


The Bonds We Make

by Lojuba



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Adults are adulting, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Stiles, Canon-Typical Violence, Everyone is OOC because I literally wrote a complete AU, F/M, Families of Choice, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, I'm ignoring Canon a lot, Just side characters and they won't play a major role, M/M, Minor Character Death, Pack Feels, Sarcasm, Smut, Stiles Stilinski is not a blushing virgin, The OCs aren't really important, Werewolf Culture, Werewolf Stiles Stilinski, slow burn (kind of)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2019-12-06 20:00:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 43,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18224771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lojuba/pseuds/Lojuba
Summary: Stiles visits family in New York and meets the Hales by chance.In this story Derek is kind of a mess, but he's trying really hard and just needs a friend. Laura craves pack more than anything else and lives for the cuddles. Stiles figures out that his heart is big enough for all of them and then some more.





	1. we all have something to hide

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this, because I really liked the idea of it and it wouldn't leave me alone. I hope you enjoy!  
> As always, I'm not a fluent english speaker, so there'll be mistakes. 
> 
>  
> 
> tumblr: wellthisisawkward-nervermind

Stiles met the Hales just before the spring break of his sophomore year of high school. 

His dad hadn’t been too happy with him getting into official police business lately and send him off to live with his uncle, Noah, and his cousins, Aubrey and Dave, under the pretense of family bonding, for a solid five weeks.

He basically took him out of school the moment his tests ended and send him away. Christmas and New Year celebrations were only possible every other year anyway, because of his shift duty and this year wasn’t one of them. 

Stiles knew, though, that the whole thing was a ruse to keep him out of trouble and give them both a break from Stiles micromanaging his eating habits and prying into his work life.

Besides that, it also was the longest time they’d been apart since his mother’s death and his dad had argued that this would give them both an opportunity to get a feel for how college could be like. Since Stile’s uncle lives in New York they’d also get a feeling for how much distance they could deal with. What he meant was how much distance Stiles could deal with. 

It was embarrassing really, how little his dad thought of him, in this context.  
Sure, he’d lost it the year after his mom died, and sure he had to take a year off of school and work through some stuff, but that had been predominantly about how bad her dementia had affected him and not about the loss in general. 

He knew that now. Along the way it all got tangled up, but as a seventeen-year-old with a good amount of therapy on his back he knew how to differentiate what he was feeling. So, being apart from his old man wasn’t all that hard for him. However, Scott he missed surly.

If his dad had ever been wrong about one thing, then that was that Stiles wouldn’t get in trouble in New York. Maybe not crime related trouble, but he could still do other stuff. 

Not only that, but his uncle was the most easy-going guardian he knew, and his older cousins may have seemed well behaved from the outside looking in, but Stiles knew what they got up to.

Needless to say, they were going out a lot.  
They took him to different clubs, made sure the bartender knew he was their ‘driver’, so that he wouldn’t get any alcoholic beverages and left him to explore. And explore he did.  
He danced with both males and females and just learned how to go with the flow. Making out in dark corners of clubs, who's names he couldn’t pronounce had him questioning his persona as the awkward hyperactive spazz everyone had pegged him as, back home. 

He already knew that the physical part of things was exceptionally easy for him, here he could flirt and laugh and get to know people with ease. 

In Beacon Hills there were so little people that every interaction felt heavy, loaded with pressure. Do something stupid and the whole school will know about it tomorrow. 

Talking his way out or into stuff had become his gimmick along the way.  
Scott didn’t think much of casual sex, so he didn’t get to go out clubbing a lot. Well, he only really knew one guy in his school who liked and got up to both of those things, but Danny couldn’t have cared less for him, if he tried. 

Never mind the fact that Scott actually still looked like a sixteen-year-old, and Stiles could easily pass for twenty, if he dressed right. Needless to say, they didn’t get up to a lot, together.

Growing his hair out had taken all of last year and god damn it, had he covered the awkward in between stages. But now that his head of hair was back, he pulled it off like nobody’s business. Anyway, they were celebrating the end of his first week in New York, when he met Laura Hale for the first time. 

That day would forever be ingrained in his memory, as the day he almost died.

 

________________________________________________________________________________

 

The music was droning through the speaker system, people were grinding on each other and the girl Stiles had been talking to, started getting a little handsy. All in all, it wasn’t a bad situation to be in, but he felt overwhelmingly tired. It wasn’t even 2 am yet, which was unusual for him. Since he was supposed to be the driver, he went to find Aubrey, who was currently involved in a heavy make out session with some random dude.  
She immediately handed over her car keys and told him not to bother with waiting for her. She’d be home later, wink, wink.  
Stiles laughed heartily.  
Grabbed the keys, nodded towards the guy, after mustering him closely and left the place.

The problem with feeling off was that it sometimes sneaked up on you and when you realize that something is off, you’re already in a situation you can’t control, which was exactly what happened when a slick black Camaro shot around a corner and towards him. 

He’d seen the car coming, he knew he had to move. He knew it wasn’t going to end well if he didn’t… and yet he couldn’t.

He felt the impact of the car as it crashed into him, felt his hip bone splinter, felt his head crack, felt his arm bend in an unnatural way as it came into contact with the wet asphalt. Felt something wet trickle down his face. Everything registered way to slow at first, and then it felt like it happened all at once.

When someone touched him gently, and that innocent touch sent him reeling with pain, pure panic set in.

There was beautiful woman looking down at him, with brown locks and hazel eyes. She had asked him something, but he couldn’t quite hear her over the tinnitus that had set in, directly after the impact. She looked scared and sad and determined all at once.

‘Do you want to live?’ She asked again.

Stiles wanted to nod, but he couldn’t. He tasted his blood and felt it run down his chin, as he tried to say ‘Yes.’, it didn’t come out quite alright, but the girl understood. 

She nodded, took his arm and then the most bizarre thing happened. Her eyes started to glow, and fangs dropped out of her mouth. He knew she was going to bite him. He knew she wasn’t human. 

He doubted it was real, maybe this was his brains way of making dying seem like the next big adventure, he wasn’t sure. He just knew that the sensations of her hot breath on his arm and her fangs scraping across his skin, were the last things he felt, before he lost consciousness.

 

________________________________________________________________________________

 

When Stiles woke up, he heard voices. He didn’t try to move, and he didn’t try to open his eyes. He just felt awake and light, like he was floating. 

The voices were persisting, Stiles only hoped his father didn’t fly out to watch his son die a slow death in a hospital bed. 

He braved every instinct he had and tried moving his fingers and toes and got a response, no pain. His shoulder wasn’t messed up anymore. Everything just felt incredibly heavy. The voices grew louder again.

It was an angry male voice that sounded almost growly, ‘How could you? It’s bad enough that you almost killed him, but you shouldn’t have bitten him without his consent. Do you really think we could handle it if the bond formed and he—’

Bitten? Wait didn’t the girl… He slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was lying on a queen-sized matrass, that was laid out on a nice hardwood floor. 

Upon looking down, he saw that all of his limbs were still attached and not only that, he was also completely healed.

‘What the fuck.’ He whispered as he felt his hip, that had been shattered the last time he was conscious.

Immediately two people were in the room. The girl from last? night, he didn’t know how long he’d been out, and a guy that looked exceptionally angry, which he found incredibly inappropriate.

‘Why do you look so constipated, dude? I’m the one that almost got killed.’ He grunted, while sitting up and testing his muscles.

The woman smiled concerned at him, as the dude’s frown deepened. ‘Do you remember what happened?’ She asked, while Stiles was overwhelmed with scents. The room smelled like laundry detergent and sweat and blood and other stuff he couldn’t quite name.

He rubbed his nose, while glancing up at her. ‘I was about to die, when you bit me?’

She looked relived, when she nodded. ‘Yes, yes, exactly. You were drugged and you were wearing all black and in the middle of the street at night and I didn’t see you. I’m sorry.’ She looked at him searchingly and held her arms to herself like she had to hold herself back from touching him. Weird.

‘I didn’t drink anything alcoholic, but I remember feeling really off, that’s why I was outside in the first place. I was trying to get home, when I saw your car, but it was like I physically couldn’t move out of the way.’ He stared down at his hands, searchingly, like they could tell him, who had been the one to put the stuff into his glass. Was it the cute girl, he’d been dancing with?  
Rubbing his nose hadn’t helped, it just irritated it, even though his hands smelled like soap.

Weird. They obviously cleaned him up a little. 

‘So, what am I?’ He asked while frowning up at them.

‘What do you mean?’ Angry guy pressed out, between his teeth. Jesus talking seemed to hurt him.

‘I mean I had several severely broken bones and I felt like I was dying, and your girlfriend’s eyes burned red and she got all fangy and bit me and now I’m… better? Thank you for that by the way.’ He said sincerely, as he looked up at the woman.

She was a little baffled but regained her composure quickly. ‘You were dying.’ She said sadly. ‘I’m Laura, this is my brother Derek. We’re werewolves. Born ones, not bitten.’ She gestured nervously between them, before running her fingers through her hair.

‘I am the alpha of our little pack. Two wolves don’t really make a pack, but we don’t take lightly to giving the bite. It’s important to us.’ She gestured to him. ‘By biting you, I turned you into a werewolf. You are now my beta.’ She was back to fiddling with her hands on his hoodie zipper.  
He realized now, that this woman, Laura, was wearing his hoodie. Maybe it was a scent thing? Because that thing reeked of him. 

‘I’m a werewolf?’ He asked numbly.  
‘Yes. It doesn’t have to change a lot.’ She reassured, immediately. ‘You are stronger, faster, heal from almost everything, but the full moon and other stuff are going to be hard for you to deal with.’  
Stiles nodded slowly, he didn’t know how to feel about any of this. He wanted to freak out, but he felt like that would be highly offensive. He also wasn’t sure which part he wanted to freak out about, anyway.  
He’d almost died and then he’d been changed forever in the span of a few hours, if the electric alarm, sitting on the small desk near the window was to be believed.

He struggled to calm himself, hearing his own heart sped through an incredibly intermezzo certainly wasn’t helping. ‘Am I… am I dangerous?’ He asked finally.

Derek answered him immediately. ‘Yes, you are. Especially if you don’t learn how to control yourself.’

Stiles nodded again, before he looked towards Laura. ‘Listen, I’m really thankful for your help, without you I’d be dying in a hospital somewhere and believe me, I really am happy that that’s not the case, but do you have my smartphone? Or a phone in general? I need to call my cousins, tell them that I’m alright, I kind of left the car behind.’

She smiled, ‘It’s only been two hours. Your phone didn’t make it, but you can use mine to text them later.’ 

He knew that if they didn’t give him access to letting his family know he was alright, everything was off the table. ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but this is obviously a lot and I’d feel heaps better about myself and this situation, if I knew you’d trust me enough to call my cousin. I’m not going to say anything about werewolves. We just have this deal that when someone ends up going home with anyone, they let the others know where they are and that they are well. I don’t mind if you’re in the room-’ ‘You misunderstood me. We’re not holding you hostage. You can call your family right now. I just thought they’d mind the time.’ Laura said, as she smiled reassuringly at him again and held out her unlocked phone. 

‘What address can I give them?’ Stiles felt a little overwhelmed.  
‘You can tell them our actual address. You’re currently in Brooklyn, Jefferson Avenue.’

He nodded. ‘I’m not going to give them the address, if they don’t ask.’ He somehow knew that it hadn’t been easy for Laura to give him that information.

The angry dude, Derek he reminded himself, seemed to lose a little of his tension, which was great. Having a menacing person stare him down wasn’t helping the stress.

Aubrey picked up at the second ring.

‘Hey Aub—’ ‘Now listen here you little shit, do you have any idea how worried I was about you? You’re underage, dammit. You can’t just fuck off to god knows where without telling anyone where you are.’ The last part was screamed at him.

Stiles stared at the phone for a moment. ‘I’m in Brooklyn. I went home with someone. Lost my phone. I’m sorry I didn’t call you sooner.’

‘Fucking fuck you, you little twerp, I almost called your dad, hell I almost called my dad.’

‘I mean… If I really had gone missing that would have been great actuall—’ ‘Stiles I’m going to straight up beat you up, when you’re back home. Fuck around all you want but keep me informed, so that I can make sure you’re not dead in a ditch somewhere. When you left the keys by the car, I thought you’d been kidnapped or had gotten into some accident.’ Her voice was really brittle, she was clearly holding back tears.

Stiles groaned into his hands. ‘I’m sorry?’ ‘Are you fucking serious?’ ‘I’m sorry!’ ‘That’s more like it.’

She sighed and he felt how tense he’d gotten. ‘Are you crying?’ He asked, carefully.  
‘Hell yes, I’m crying, I was supposed to take care of you. If something had happened—’ ‘Aubrey, you didn’t do anything wrong. I was being an irresponsible brat, but I’m fine. I swear to god.’ He said calmly, voice a little muffled, by his hands.

‘When will you be home?’ He looked up and saw the shocked faces of both Laura and Derek, so he had to wing it. ‘Listen I know this is really shitty, but I went home with a criminal law major. He agreed to take me with him to the campus tomorrow, show me around, tell me a little about what’s going on. I planned on coming back by tomorrow evening, if that’s alright?’ Aubrey sniffled a little before she said, ‘I mean that is a great opportunity.’ 

She sighed deeply, before agreeing. ‘Just be safe Stiles okay? Call me anytime if you don’t feel comfortable. I’ll pick you up wherever.’

Stiles nodded before realizing she couldn’t see that. ‘I’m really sorry for scaring you, Aubrey. Love you.’ He felt oddly thankful that he had this opportunity, to be yelled at by Aubrey. He suppressed the tears and ignored how his stomach felt like it was twisted in knots, thinking about what could have happened wouldn’t solve anything.  
‘Love you too, just tell me next time.’ ‘I will.’ ‘Bye Stiles, have a nice night.’

When he hung up, Laura got all up in his face, ‘You’re underage?’ She asked.  
‘I just turned seventeen two months ago.’ He admitted. Because what the fuck was the point in lying to two werewolves. ‘Is that going to change anything?’ 

Laura nodded slightly. ‘It means teaching control will probably take longer.’ She mumbled. ‘Why were you out clubbing when you’re underage?’ She asked and somehow managed to come off as really motherly. 

‘I’m from a small town in California where my dad is the Sheriff, everything interesting that’s happening there is going on without me, because people think I’ll rat them out. I have a reputation as an awkward spazz, that I can’t seem to lose. People don’t just talk to me or want to get to know me. That place is small enough that everything weird or different you’ll ever do will come back to haunt you. I needed to get out, talk to people and prove to myself that I’m more than that.’  
He slowly messaged his temples, while he continued.  
‘I’m easy to talk to, you know? Worth getting to know. I have a thick skin and a lot of the shit that they are saying back home about me doesn’t get to me, but when I have the opportunity to get to know knew people, I always take it. It may seem pathetic to you, but to me it actually means a lot. Being able to easily talk to people, wanting and having them want me back. Being able to get to know someone who doesn’t already think they know who I am and what my limitations are, is refreshing as fuck.’ He shrugged, couldn’t quite understand why he was being so open about this. ‘Why am I telling you this?’

‘I am your alpha. The connection is as fresh as it can be, you’ll feel compelled to tell me the truth for a while.’ She smiled at him. When he chanced a glance at Derek he was baffled for a moment. He saw pure understanding in the other man’s eyes. As if he too, had something to prove to himself. He quickly looked away, not wanting to make it awkward.  
‘So, do you think I’ll be fine by tomorrow evening?’ He chanced a look at Laura, who mustered him intently. 

‘For a short period of time, yes. You’ll have to come back the next day.’ She sat down next to him and studied him. ‘Can I scent you?’ He shrugged, it seemed important to her. ‘Sure.’ She immediately hugged him close, with a force that belied her smaller frame. Then she pulled his head to the side, so that his neck was exposed and buried her face there, rubbing her cheek up and down his neck. 

He instantly felt serene, taken care of and relaxed. When she stopped, she smiled brightly at him. ‘I’ve been itching to do that all night.’ Stiles laughed. ‘Anytime.’ He smiled. ‘It makes me feel safe.’  
Laura’s eyes widened. ‘Yeah, that’s exactly what it’s supposed to do. You’re not weirded out by that?’  
‘I mean people shove their tongues into each other’s mouths as a display of affection or lust, who am I to say that rubbing your face against someone’s neck is weird? Especially if it makes me feel like that.’  
Laura laughed sweetly at that and pulled him back down onto the bed with her. Derek still stood by the foot of the bed, looking indecisive.

‘Sleeping in the same bed is something the pack does when something particularly upsetting happens. For us gaining a new pack member is a big deal.’ She whispered into his neck.  
Stiles didn’t feel anything sexual towards Laura. Her brother could be a different story, under the right circumstances, but he knew sex and what they were sharing right now, wasn’t that. Yes, it was intimacy, but it wasn’t passionate. It was calming and almost familiar. So, he nodded towards Derek, ‘I don’t mind.’

Derek immediately crawled in next to him, but he didn’t move to touch him. Laura had other ideas and pulled him into a weird three-way hug, over Stiles, but Stiles didn’t mind. He felt connected to the two of them. There were obviously already pack bonds working their magic. He just felt warm and safe. 

They slept for a few hours like that, not minding that they were tangled up. By 10 am a freshly showered Derek woke him by carefully shaking his shoulder. Laura batted at the hand, because she’d slept on the other one. Stiles smiled, when Derek groaned ‘Laura get up, there’s Bacon.’ 

‘I’m up.’ Laura grumbled into Stiles shoulder, ‘Sure you are. I’m taking Stiles with me, maybe you’ll come when your pillow is gone.’ Derek threatened. Laura growled threateningly and Stiles immediately froze in his position under her, that sound made every muscle in his body tense.

When he managed to calm himself again, Laura sat next to him, eyes wide, hair wild while Derek glared at her, from his place by Stile’s side.  
‘I’m sorry. I keep forgetting that you’re going to react to me a lot stronger for the next few days.’ She combed her fingers through her tangled locks and looked almost ashamed to the floor, ‘Fresh turns are always more in tune with their alpha’s moods, I’m not used to that with Derek.’ She mumbled. 

Derek had gripped onto his arm and was drawing circles with his thumb over his pulse point. Stiles looked shocked at him, the guy hadn’t given him any reason to believe that he even liked him and here he was soothing him?  
‘It’s okay.’ He said, voice still scratchy from disuse. ‘In fact, I remember someone mentioning Bacon, how about that?’

There was in fact a really big breakfast prepared. Laura made a little small talk while Stiles put food away like he had been starved. The fried eggs and crisp bacon on toast tasted heavenly. He ate enough for what felt like three regular people, but Laura and Derek didn’t seem to mind. After that Laura called first shower, which left him alone with Derek.

They slowly started to clear the table together. Then Derek turned around to him, ‘This is a big deal to us. To a werewolf pack means everything. Laura will feel responsible for you, because she made you.’ He paused to look at Stiles, really look at him. ‘Don’t take advantage of her kindness.’

Stiles stared at him for a second before frowning. ‘I get what this is, and I respect that, but I’ll need more information than that. I mean I can guess that I’m not allowed to tell anyone about my newly acquired status as a supernatural or endanger people by losing control, but other than that, I don’t have the slightest idea what I could be doing to harm you or your sister.’

Derek blinked at him, thrown off by his open questions. He nodded. ‘That’s alright. We’ll tell you about everything later. It helps that you’re so honest. You haven’t lied to us once, since arriving here. If we didn’t trust you at least a little, we wouldn’t have slept in the same bed as you.’ 

Stiles started drying off the plates and handed them to Derek who, put them away.  
When Laura came out of the bathroom smelling clean and like herself, Derek nodded towards it, ‘You can go shower now.’ 

Stiles complied easily. Having craved a shower ever since he woke up the first time.

On the way to the shower he looked at himself in the mirror, he felt like his features had gotten more angular. Like the last of the baby fat had been burned away, his muscles looked more pronounced.  
He’d always had a solid build, but it used to be more lean than bulky, now it was a nice mixture of both. He had been wide in the shoulders and slim in the hips, before, but damn. ‘You didn’t tell me I’d get a werewolf makeover’ He said sarcastically, Laura’s answering laughter and Derek amused snort, made him laugh, too.

After he showered, he put on Derek’s jogging pants, he had to work the draw string a little, but they fit alright, the black Henley was too tight around the shoulders and too loose around the hips but overall, he felt decently presentable.

Laura was immediately on him scenting him, and Derek stepped closer to him as well. He carefully placed a hand on the other side of his neck and mustered him, when Laura said, ‘Now, I feel like before we start with werewolf 101, we need to share a little more information about who we are, ease into the whole thing.’ She looked at him enquiringly, so he knew he should start.

They all sat down around the kitchen table and Stiles took in a deep breath. ‘I’m Mieczyslaw Stilinski. I was named after my maternal grandfather, but since no one can pronounce the name I’ve been going by Stiles.’  
He paused to look down at his hands, playing with the creamer bottle. ‘I’m from Beacon Hills, California.’ He continued after a moment and would have told them the rest if he didn’t heat their heartbeats go through the roof at that.

He slowly looked up to see the pure angst that was radiating from Derek. ‘What did I say?’

‘We’re the Hales.’ Laura said. ‘We’re the Hales from Beacon Hills.’ And everything Stiles wanted to say or ask was naught. He stared at them both, registered their grief and their sadness. He immediately reached out to them, it was an instinct. As a human he’d been more sensible, respected a boundary that he didn’t feel as a wolf.

The moment he pulled them both in a hug, he realized that human sensibilities had no place here. They were both holding on to him, sharing their feelings, letting themselves be held. They’d been strangers yesterday. It was truly baffling to him how that worked.

But more importantly, they were Hales. They were Beacon Hill’s very own horror story. The only survivors of the big family that had died being burned alive in their own home. 

He slowly pulled away. ‘I’m sorry this happened to you.’ He whispered. Laura nodded. Derek stared at the table.

‘It wasn’t because of… It wasn’t because your werewolves, right?’ Derek immediately flinched. Laura looked intently on the creamer bottle, he still held in his hand ‘They said it was an accident.’ Derek was beyond tense, when she said that.  
Stiles had never been all that great at filtering himself, so he said what he knew to be true. ‘But it wasn’t’ Laura nodded, and Derek would have flinched again, if she didn’t put an arm around him.

‘We never really talked about it, but I knew, Derek.’ She whispered.  
He stared at her, so, so, afraid. 

Stiles didn’t know what she knew and how that mattered to Derek, but he felt incredibly uncomfortable. He was just about to ask them if they wanted a little privacy, when Derek made a sound so full of grief and dread, that made the hairs on the back of Stile’s neck stand on end.  
He’d sounded like a dying animal and then Stiles smelled blood.  
He immediately felt something inside him, reach out to him and then his eyes burned, his nails itched, and his gums tingled. The change from awkward fumbling with the creamer bottle, to standing at the table, letting his eyes wander through the room, searching for a threat that wasn’t there, was instantaneous. When he saw that Derek’s hands bled, because he’d released his claws in his fists, he sighed deeply, almost relived, and he let go of what had felt like an enhanced protective sense.

Laura stared at him. ‘How did you do that?’ 

Stiles blinked nervously, ‘That was it, wasn’t it? I just changed, didn’t I?’  
‘Yeah.’ Derek answered him.  
‘That didn’t feel bad at all. It’s just like, an enhanced instinct. I felt protective over you because you’re both in a vulnerable situation right now and then there was the smell of blood and I could feel it creeping up and let it take over. When I realized that there wasn’t a threat, I let it recede again.’ He sighed. ‘I’m really sorry, Derek, I didn’t mean to interrupt.’

The siblings looked at him weirdly and then Derek let his head fall against the table. ‘Only you Laura, only you would manage to bite someone obviously born to become a wolf from Beacon fucking Hills. What are the fucking odds?’ He sounded weirdly resigned. It took everything in Stiles not to preen at the compliment.

Laura smiled at him as she carded her hands through Derek’s hair in what clearly was a comforting gesture. Then she sobered up again.

‘Our house was burned down by hunters.’ She admitted, sounding dejected, ‘Hunters usually follow a code, but sometimes, they lose themselves and start hunting indiscriminately. In most cases, when that happens the hunter will be taken out, but there are also hunting families. Those who’ve been around a long time are only policed by themselves and if they start turning away from the code, the situation gets exponentially more difficult. What happened to us, is not something that happens often. We left when Derek was sixteen and I was eighteen and we have been traveling for the last six years, never staying in one place longer than a year. It just didn’t feel safe to stay longer. Ney York has been the only exception. We’ve been here for almost two years, now.’ She concluded.

Derek looked at him again, eyes guarded, before he said, ‘I’m just doing odd jobs at the moment, trying to figure out what I want to study. Laura’s doing law.’

‘Now we want to know stuff about you and your life.’ Laura cut in. Looking curiously at him.

‘I don’t really know what to say about myself? I guess we could start with my family. My dad’s the Sheriff, my mom died when I was ten years old. She had a severe form of dementia. At her worst, she thought someone send me to kill her. I was in a really bad place after she died and couldn’t go to school for a year. That’s why I’m only a sophomore in high school. I’m currently visiting my paternal uncle and my cousins, here. I’ll have to go back in a month. I’d like to work as a detective someday. Maybe I’ll join the FBI or maybe I’ll study criminal law, I don’t know yet.’

There was an instinctual understanding between all of them. They knew and understood grief. They knew what it felt like to lose a part of yourself and work hard to regain it.  
Everything that they shared made Stiles feel better, he wondered if it had something to do, with the warmth in his chest, that felt a lot like Derek and Laura. He didn’t dare ask, yet.

 

They spent the rest of the day doing mundane things. Laura explained everything from hunters, to codes, to rogues and omegas. She also took him to the park to help him differentiate between different scents, the garbage container next to their house almost brought Stiles to his knees.

Derek had left early to go to his job and when he came back later, he tried to help him connect to his wolf. After mediating for two hours with him, Stiles realized the wolf was as much a part of him as everything else he was is, except he could reach for him and gain strength through him, he could also let him take over and let him recede back. He realized quickly that his wolf was unusually calm.

Derek had coached him through every meditation he’d done, and a lot of his advice didn’t make a lot of sense at first, because Stiles couldn’t apply it to the situation. Calming his wolf wasn’t necessary, he also wasn’t sure what kind of mantra he should apply to this situation, to anchor him.

When he described what was happening, Derek called in Laura, who in turn asked him a few things about the appearance of his wolf. ‘Does he look healthy?’  
‘He looks like he’s well fed, doesn’t seem sick or anything like that, he just seems calm. His fur also looks kind of pretty.’ He admitted sheepishly. It felt weirdly vain to say that. 

Laura laughed loudly at that. Before sobering back up, mustering him intently. ‘Did you meditate a lot before? Did you have to fight yourself a lot? Maybe deal with panic attacks or had a problem concentrating?’

‘Yes, to all of that.’ Stiles said, as he pulled up an eyebrow. ‘I have ADHD, so I’m used to not being able to concentrate easily. I used to fight for control a lot, especially because the meds didn’t always work. I also used to get panic attacks all the time after my mom died.’ He said, feeling like shit.

Laura’s eyes widened.  
‘Well, that explains a lot. You’re used to not being in control all of the time, you’re also able to work around that. That gives you an edge when dealing with your wolf, it’s basically grounding it, because it realizes that you’re the one who’s deciding when to let it take over. It won’t have to be vigilant all of the time. This kind of instinctual trust means, that you won’t be having problems with control on the daily. We still need to wait out the full moon and see how you deal with that.’

 

Laura asked him what he thought his triggers were after she tried getting him to lose control by physically throwing him into a wall. 

‘I’ve been rolling with the punches all my life.’ He said sounding almost dejected, ‘I doubt it’s going to be anything like anger. Stuff that gets me the most is if I think about my family getting hurt. What would probably make me wolf out is if Scott had an asthma attack and I couldn’t get him his inhaler in time.’ He admitted, the idea of that alone made his wolf perk up. Ready to take action.  
He closed his eyes and took a calming breath before looking back up at Laura and Derek, only to see how Derek gave Laura a look, as she stared at him. 

Laura nodded, ‘A lot of people don’t understand how to accept the wolf as part of themselves.’  
Stiles snorted. ‘Having him as a part of me, saved my life.’  
‘Yes, but most people can’t just accept it, that’s why they can’t regulate their strength and lose control. It’s their wolf rebelling against their rejection.’  
‘So, my wolf is chill with me, because I’m good with him.’  
Derek stared at him like he’d just said the most ridiculous thing anyone had ever said. ‘Yes.’ He finally admitted.

 

Shortly after their last conversation. Stiles had to leave. Since he didn’t have a phone at the moment, Derek and Laura wrote their respective phone numbers on a small paper in case of emergency and they agreed that he’d come visit them the next morning.

Stiles called Aubrey, who picked him up by the park near the apartment, not even ten minutes later.

The moment he sat in the car, she boxed his shoulder hard and fast. He groaned, before he realized that it didn’t actually hurt. ‘I deserved that.’ He muttered. ‘Yes, you did.’ She agreed. And then she pulled him in a long hug. She smelled like familiar love, warmth and relief. He pushed his face further into her neck to breath her in, before pulling back. 

On the drive back, she pestered him about the mystery guy.

Since Stiles wasn’t all that creative, he started modeling his fantasy one-night stand after Derek.  
‘Damn, tall, dark and handsome and he made breakfast?’  
‘Hmm.’ Stiles hummed in agreement.

‘Sounds like boyfriend material.’

Stiles thought about the pure understanding, when he’d talked about his personal quest to prove himself and the utter terror, when they talked about the fire. ‘I don’t think so.’

Aubrey stared at him. ‘Dude, seriously?’  
‘I don’t know. I really liked hanging out, I’d be happy if we turned out to be friends.’ He said carefully.  
‘Damn, are you seeing him again?’ Aubrey asked while drumming her fingers against the steering wheel.  
‘We’re going out for breakfast tomorrow.’ Stiles felt like a huge dork, for making this whole thing seem like something it really wasn’t.

‘Stiles.’

‘I don’t know.’ No, he knew. Laura and Derek were important to him, he was a fresh werewolf and really dependent on their guidance. It seemed like a stupid move to try and flirt with Derek, when he didn’t know how the other man would take to that. Especially since he didn’t feel attracted to him like that. The guy was attractive, but he felt like having him as a pack member was more important.

‘Alright.’ Aubrey focused on the road again, when Stiles remembered the dude from last night. ‘How about you?’  
‘Oh, you mean Tony?’ Aubrey asked as she turned into the street their uncle lived in.  
‘Tony, huh?’ Stiles asked, grinning widely  
‘Well, he’s been a sweetheart. He helped me search the area around the club and looked for you I n the men’s bathroom. When I found the keys, he wanted to hail a cab to the police station.’ She shared.  
‘Sounds like a great guy, honestly.’ If things had been different, the dude’s quick thinking could have saved his ass.  
‘That’s why we went out today.’  
‘Yeah?’  
‘Yeah we bonded over irresponsible asshole cousins.’  
And because Stiles was still a little bit of an asshole, he winked at her and said, ‘Sounds romantic.’ 

 

When they went in to eat dinner with their uncle and Dave, their mood was still good. His uncle didn’t comment on anything, so Aubrey must have covered for him. Thank god for her, honestly. 

That evening he called his dad and they talked a little bit. Not about much. Apparently, there wasn’t a lot going on in Beacon Hills.  
Stiles really wanted to tell him about the Hale fire. Get his father to reopen the case and 

bring hell upon the hunters who murdered all of those people. But he held back.  
‘So, dad, daddy-o.’  
‘What did you do?’ There was an exasperated sigh somewhere in there, that Stiles resented.  
‘Lost my phone.’  
‘Stiles’  
‘I know.’ He groaned.  
‘Do you, though?’  
‘Yes. I’m sorry.’ He noticed that he was doing a lot of apologizing lately.  
‘Great. You’re sorry. Dammit, Stiles. You need that phone, especially if you’re going to spend another month in a city like New York.’  
‘So, remember how I talked about working a few days a month at the station? Filing and stuff.’  
There was a short pause, then shuffling. ‘You don’t need to work for your phone Stiles.’  
‘I know, I just wanted to remind you of the many responsible choices I plan on making when I’ll be back home.’  
When his dad spoke again, he could tell that he was smiling. ‘The money will be on your account tomorrow. We’ll talk about you helping out at the station when you are back home.’

Sleep came easily after the hectic day Stiles had. However, he woke up at 6 am the next morning, brimming with energy, after he quickly checked his account, only to find that his dad had already transferred the budget for a new phone, he said goodbye to his uncle, Aubrey and Dave were still sleeping, and went to visit Laura and Derek.

Derek opened the door to the apartment shirtless and with a bed head, looked at him, pulled him in and went with him to Laura’s bed, where she’d previously been sleeping alone, which was made obvious by the starfish sleeping position. He carefully shoved her to the side, manhandled Stiles in between them, laid down next to him and at once, two people shoved the faces against his neck. He laughed heartily, cuddled back and fell asleep again, later he went on a run with Derek, then he went grocery shopping with Laura and helped them both make lunch.  
After that the three of them would do something touristy, like sightseeing. 

In the evening Laura took him to their basement and showed him how to fight. They started off with pretty basic stuff, most of which Stiles father had already covered with him. How to pack a punch, how to duck and evade, how to ‘take’ a punch, the main difference in that particular learning experience was, that he’d worn a bullet proof vest at the time he trained that with his dad and that a lot of that part of training had been hypothetical, whereas Laura wasn’t pulling any punches, no one else would be holding back. 

Anyway, they soon advanced, to more werewolf specific defense techniques. How to defend yourself against wolfsbane, how to free yourself, when confronted with mountain ash and the worst case, how to heal bullet wounds and mistletoe poisoning, in the early stages.

Needless to say, he learned a lot. Since Laura had a treaty with an alpha who had territory in New York, she managed to get him a few different bullets, that contained the most commonly used wolfsbane in hunting, in case he ever ran into trouble. Having them was also helpful in distinguishing the different scents. A hunter smelled always like wolfsbane and if they didn’t, they smelled so strongly like perfume or bathing products, that it was nauseating to be near them for more than an hour, Derek added. Which was a weird thing to know, helpful but questionable. Stiles filed that information away for braver times.

The next two weeks were spent just like that. Cuddling, Learning, Meditating, Feeling the pack bond. Being a werewolf had changed little for Stiles as a person. Being part of a pack had changed everything.

‘The full moon is tomorrow.’ Laura said casually when Stiles failed to see a punch coming and was being pummeled into the wall by one very keyed up Derek.  
‘Yeah, I already talked to Dave he’ll cover for me, so that I can stay the night.’  
Derek immediately looked slightly pissed. ‘Who’s Dave?’  
‘My cousin.’ Stiles answered, slightly baffled about the animosity.  
The top of Derek’s ears immediately pinked, which cracked Laura up.  
‘Nearing the full moon, we can get a little possessive.’ She explained. ‘If pack members chose to spend it with someone else. It’s something like an insult.’ He himself bristled at the thought of voluntarily spending the day with someone else. Must be an instinct.  
Stiles nodded. ‘Okay. I’ll be here bright and early tomorrow.’ He reassured easily.

The day of the full moon was hard for everyone. Not in the way he’d initially thought. They weren’t all tense with pent up energy rearing to go, ready to fight.  
He’d even thought they’d chain him up or something, but the whole thing felt like a really intense bout of growing pains. 

‘It’s because the wolf craves activity. The moon calls to him, but we can’t run in the city or let it take over here, because hunters are everywhere. The best we can do, is open all windows, lay out a matrass near a window and huddle together.’ Her voice sounded small.

Derek grunted as he pulled the mattress to the window. Their skin felt to hot and to small, like it wasn’t enough to contain them.  
When he pressed his legs into Derek and his back against Laura the three of the them sighed. Pack brought comfort. The moonlight soothed them. They glowed their eyes at each other and used their claws to carefully scrape at each other, in a soothing manner. They were more connected to the animal side of things, without losing themselves.

‘New bites have to be chained up, usually. Because of control issues and their potential for aggression. It’s really rare for a wolf to be as centered as you are.’ Derek muttered against his thigh. Laura groaned from behind him. ‘Thank fuck, we don’t have to deal with that today.’ She groaned.

‘Back in Beacon we used to run in the moonlight. It was as close to pure euphoria as any of us can ever get. The connection felt incredible.’ She muttered sounding whimsical.

‘You can’t run in Beacon, anymore.’ Derek quickly cut in and stared intently at Stiles. ‘Those woods aren’t safe anymore.’

Stiles nodded. ‘So instead of pure euphoria we are huddled in a pile, while basking our sorry asses in the moonlight and complain about our bodies giving up on us like a bunch of elderly in a retirement home.’

Laura snorted. ‘Dammit, don’t make me laugh. That shit hurts.’ She groaned.

‘What if we’d run on a treadmill?’ He asked.  
‘Too risky.’ Derek muttered. ‘The full moon is not the time you want to test your control. If you give the wolf a taste of what he’s missing, it will fight even harder and the pain will become unbearable.’

‘What a fucking asshole.’ Stiles groaned.

Derek snorted against him. 

‘So, this is already really shitty. How will I survive this all by my lonesome?’ He groaned

They all knew Stiles had to go back and it was hard for all of them.  
‘We already have a fairly strong bond with you.’ Laura said. ‘If we spent the next two weeks strengthening that and if you come visit us on break, you should be able to get by with texting, calling and skyping on a regular basis.’ 

‘I already talked about getting a job with my dad, I just hope he lets me come visit over break.’ He mumbled.

‘You don’t have to buy tickets. Use your money to save up for college.’ Laura groaned. ‘We’re flying you in.’  
Then she kicked at Derek, snorted and continued. ‘Tell your dad, your rich older boyfriend misses you.’  
Stiles cracked up. ‘He’s going to ground me until I leave for college, if I try to pull that off.’  
Derek and Laura joined in. It just felt good to laugh, even if it physically hurt. 

After a while, he concentrated on the feeling of the moonlight on his skin, and the itching in his gums, the tingling in his fingertips and the sense of community.

‘Guys, how will I keep this from my dad?’ He mumbled as he stared at his hand, where he let out one claw after another, pulled them back and started anew.

‘Try it. If it puts a strain on your relationship be open about it.’ Laura decided, after watching him play with his claws in wonder.  
‘I really don’t think it’ll be too big of a problem. I’ve met born wolves before that weren’t as well adjusted as you.’ She touched his hand carefully.

Stiles suddenly felt overwhelmed. ‘Thank you for trusting me with all of this.’ He whispered.

The siblings pressed closer.

‘So, what do you say, we go out tomorrow? Maybe with your cousins. I heard they were offended about you spending all your time with Mr. tall, dark and handsome.’

Stiles groaned. ‘I couldn’t tell them the truth and I’d already told Aubrey I went home with some dude.’

‘You could have told her that you’re with Laura.’ Derek said.

The snort that followed sounded forced. ‘Yeah but if Aubrey ever met her, she would have sent me straight back home to go back to therapy—’ Laura smacked him upside the head, before he could finish the sentence.  
‘Shit that hurt. No damn it, you look too much like my mom. Long dark brown locks, pale skin, hazel eyes. I never even talk to woman like that.’

‘Well, that’s okay then.’ Laura muttered appeased.  
‘As if you don’t know your beautiful.’ Stiles grumbled, while rubbing the back of his head.

‘Oh no, she knows.’ Derek laughed silently and was promptly kicked again. ‘God dammit Laura, stop doing that.’

To be honest, the first full moon was nothing like what he expected, the moment the sun went up, they were feeling better and they promptly fell asleep.


	2. coming home is never easy

When they woke up in the late afternoon, they went out to get pizza. ‘Gimme your phone.’ Laura demanded. Stiles groaned and handed it over. Then Laura vanished in the room next door.

They only heard Laura’s part of the conversation.

‘Hey is this Aubrey?’

‘Yeah I’m Derek’s big sister.’

‘Oh, you know him as tall, dark and handsome?’  
Stiles didn’t even turn red anymore. Derek was all of those things. NO one could fault him for observing that.

Laughter. ‘No, I was just wondering if you wanted to go out together tonight.’

‘Hmm… Yes, in a group. Derek, Stiles, me, you, Dave, whoever else you want to invite?’

‘Sure. Which one is that? Yeah we’ll meet you there.’

‘You too!’

She came back out, ‘Heard everything, didn’t you?’

‘Yeah.’ Stiles wasn’t going to pretend. ‘Shit, that means, I’ll have to go back home and get some clubbing clothes.’

‘Oh please, if that stuff wasn’t loose before, I don’t think you’d be able to pull it off, now.’

Stiles stared at her. ‘I hate shopping.’ He whispered, while she groaned. 

‘Derek do you have a shirt that’s a little tighter around the waist, maybe?’

Derek stared at them both for a moment. ‘Dude we’re not asking because I’m that vain. I’m still only seventeen. The only reason I don’t get carded is because I put a lot of effort in making myself look older when I go out.’ He groaned.

‘I should be able to find you something.’ Derek said after giving him a once over.

He went back to his uncles anyway, just to show his face and make sure Noah wasn’t angry with him, which he wasn’t. He also picked up his clubbing clothes and brought them back to the apartment.

Derek was at the gym, when he got back, so he quickly pulled over the shirt Derek had put out for him, it fit really well, he tried to do something with his hair, put on some leather bands and watched Laura put on her make-up, while he sat at the edge of the bathtub eating twizzlers.

When Derek came back, he stared at Stiles and Laura, smiled and joined them, with the encouraging words, ‘You’re both trying too hard.’ 

Laura threw her powder puff at him, while Stiles laughed openly. ‘Ripped jeans are pretty much standard, though and you picked out my shirt.’

‘I was talking about the hair.’

Laura groaned. ‘It’s puffy. I can’t help it.’ Stiles looked confused, ‘I like it.’ Derek smirked at him, while reaching out towards him, obviously intend on ruffling through his hair. ‘You would.’ 

Stiles evaded like a pro. However, Laura wasn’t having any of that. ‘No fighting while I’m doing my eyeliner!’ She yelled watching the small scuffle that started happening behind her, through the mirror, while baring her teeth threateningly at them.

They both retreated to the living room. Derek turned on the tv, while Stiles held his Twizzlers out to him.

‘So, we’re not going to pretend right?’ Stiles asked a little unsure.

‘I mean I’m already known as your one night stand you obviously like to hang out with, so we’re just going to keep the rest as close to the truth as possible. That we’ve decided to meet up again, but don’t feel anything romantic for each other and we’re good friends now.’

Laura’s happy 80s playlist droned through the bathroom door as Stiles nodded. ‘That’s good. I already told her I didn’t know if we were going down the relationship route when she pestered me about the whole thing.’ 

Derek nodded. ‘I’m not gay.’ 

Stiles stared at him for a second. ‘I’m bisexual, but that doesn’t really matter, because I don’t see you that way.’

Derek stared at him for a moment. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off with you, you know, if we were pretending.’ 

‘Ah, that’s okay then.’ Stiles nodded. ‘I was afraid I was starting to make you uncomfortable with the whole tall, dark and handsome thing.’

Derek smiled. ‘Stiles, I can take a joke and I’d know if you were meaning anything by it.’ He said grinning devilishly while tipping his nose. 

‘Being a werewolf is wild.’ Stiles murmured before turning seriously again. ‘Have you ever entered a coffeeshop and everyone in there just smelled like they’d do you?’  
Derek’s ears immediately blushed.  
‘Oh my god.’ Stiles couldn’t help it, he started laughing loud and open.  
When Laura came out of the bathroom, she took one look at them and went back to get her phone and take a picture of Stiles, head thrown back, face alight with laughter, while Derek looked like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to shove Stiles from the couch or go hide in his room.

‘I just captured your relationship perfectly.’ She whispered in awe of herself.

‘What the fuck?’ Derek groaned.

‘Did you seriously take a picture of me laughing at Derek?’

‘Yes, and it’s beautiful.’

Derek stared disbelieving at her while Stiles smirked, which of course triggered her into taking more pictures. 

‘So, do we have a game plan for tonight?’ She asked curiously.

Derek nodded towards Stiles, and said, ‘Yeah, we have.’

‘We’re firmly in friend territory after the hottest night of Derek’s life.’ Stiles said, solemnly and was promptly shoved from the couch.

‘I can see that.’ Laura laughed, while snapping another picture, this one had an indignant Stiles baring his teeth at a laughing Derek.

 

___________________________________o.O.o___________________________________

 

The club was an experience for Stiles. He smelled things and got signals off of people he’d rather never have noticed, but on the other hand, there wasn’t really anything he hadn’t expected there to be, and it wasn’t like the stuff was hard to ignore.

Aubrey and Laura hit it off immediately. Well, kind of. Tony was also there, so their interactions were limited. Dave on the other hand, was being really gentlemanly. He brought her drinks, opened doors for her and tried his hardest to make her laugh.

Derek and Stiles just tried to have a good time. But Stiles quickly realized that Derek needed to be babysat. That much was clear, after he had to pull Derek back a few times, when the other man tried to go dance with women, who were giving off very obvious crazy vibes.

‘What was wrong with her?’ Derek groaned. 

‘Do you see the bracelet around her arm?’

‘Oh my god. Is that a swastika?’ Derek asked, looking aghast.

‘Yes, my friend, it is.’

Derek stared for a second, before he nodded towards Stiles. ‘Alright, who would you pick for me?’

‘What?’ Stiles asked, completely baffled.

‘This is the fourth woman you warned me off, do you see a nice girl in here, that I could talk to?’

Stiles looked around for a moment. In a far corner sat a really nice-looking red head, with freckles and brown eyes and a band tee, that was tugged into a black skirt. Her friend had obviously abandoned her for some dude, who she was making out with not far from her.

‘She looks nice.’ He finally said.

‘The red head?’

‘Yeah. But don’t bring her a drink, ask her, if you can buy her one instead, that way she can go with you and see them make the drink.’

Derek stared at him for a few seconds. ‘How are you only seventeen?’

Stiles smirked, then. ‘Shut up, you’re making me sound like some player.’

Derek shook his head and went to the red head, while Stiles gave into the persistent staring of a sweet blonde in a tight black dress, that reminded him a lot of Heather. 

Her name was Jane.

The moment he stepped up to her she gave him the biggest smile, introductions were kept short and sweet. It didn’t take long for them to start making out. 

After half an hour or so, she pushed him back slightly. ‘I’m here with my car.’  
Stiles stared down at her kiss swollen lips, her shining bright eyes and the ruffled hair. 

‘Sounds great.’ He whispered, voice sounding throaty, before pulling her back against him and into another deep kiss.

Then they were outside and she slowly tugged Stiles along to her car.  
They didn’t talk, when Stiles got into the back seat and pulled her on his lap.  
He just ground up against her, hearing her muffled moans up against his neck, where she was working on an impressive hickey, with little success.  
She pulled up his shirt and honest to god moaned. ‘You’re so hot.’ She mumbled, before attacking his mouth again.  
Stiles laughed breathlessly against her lips. ‘I feel like I should be the one saying that.’ His instinct screamed at him to get her out of her clothing. To touch naked skin and mark her with his scent. He unclasped her bra and gently palmed the beautiful perky breasts.  
‘Do you have a condom?’ She whispered.

‘Yeah.’

‘Put it on. I’m ready.’

‘How do—’ ‘Want to ride you.’ She ground out, while tugging her already high riding dress up and her panties aside.

The moment after he got the condom on, Jane took over and damn did she know how to.  
She rode him until the blush on his chest went far deeper down on his stomach and the only thing, he could do was keep his instincts in check, as he met her thrust for thrust.

When she came, she muffled her scream by biting into his shoulder, which had to have triggered some instinctual response because the next thing he knew he was close, too.  
He tired to fuck her through her orgasm but ended up following her quickly after that with a strangled moan.

‘Hot damn.’ She muttered after a few moments.

‘Hmm.’ They were leaning against each other, still breathing hard, while he was drawing circles against her back.

‘We should—’ Jane murmured but stopped midway. Stiles could feel the shift in her mood, scent the sudden nervousness about how to proceed, so he slowly lifted her out of his lap. Pulled of the condom, knotted it and put it in his jean pocket, which wasn’t optimal but better than leaving it with her in the car.  
‘Yeah.’ He agreed understanding perfectly.

‘You’re not from New York, are you?’ Jane asked looking at him sideways, as she slowly clasped her bra.

‘No, I’m from Cali.’ Stiles smiled impishly at her, while sorting out his pants and putting his shirt back on.

‘Damn. We could have been great together.’ She smiled at him, daring him to disagree. But he only laughed. ‘I believe, we just were.’

She snorted into his shoulder before pulling away. ‘Maybe we’ll see each other again before you leave. I’m here often.’

Stiles nodded. ‘Maybe we will.’ They smiled at each other, before Stiles pulled open the door and went back to the club only to be met by two very wide-eyed looks from Laura and Derek and an Aubrey that stopped an emotional reenactment of some fight she had, to high five him and shout ‘Get it, Stiles.’

He laughed at the looks and nodded his head at Derek. ‘Where’s the red head?’

‘Her name is May, and she had to leave early, but I got her number.’ He said sounding somewhat shocked.

Stiles stared at him for a moment asking himself what about him having sex could possibly be weirding him out to that extent. ‘Oh shit.’ He murmured. ‘You heard everything didn’t you?’  
Laura nodded. Stiles scratched the back of his head. ‘Oh well?’

Laura stared for a moment longer before she just went back to talking to Dave.

Derek nodded towards the parking lot. ‘That wasn’t, you didn’t just lose your virginity like that, did you?’ He asked, sounding concerned.

‘Dude what do you think I’ve been doing here, before I met you? Back in Beacon I only get the opportunity at summer camp and on the rare nights my dad did a double shift and I could sneak out, which doesn’t happen a lot.’

Derek stared at him.  
‘So, you fuck around for validation?’ He finally asked.

Stiles stared at him, his instincts screamed at him to take the bait, but he was smart enough to know that Derek wasn’t asking to offend him. He thought about his past interactions with Derek and could kind of see how he got that impression.

‘No, I flirt for validation, I fuck for fun.’ He finally said and grinned at him like the cat that ate the canary.  
Derek listened to his heartbeat and nodded, immediately looking more relaxed. He had been worried, Stiles realized. Laura came over and ruffled through their hair, effectively ruining both of their hairstyles. 

Aubrey stared at them for a moment.  
‘You clearly have something special here.’ Letting her eyes wander over them, she continued. ‘The path will be dangerous, but I believe you’ll be able to make it. You just have to trust each other.’ She nodded to herself. ‘You don’t have to believe me but, I have an eye for that stuff. I know this as much as I know that Tony will cheat on me, three months into our relationship.’ 

She looked sadly at the man, who was currently getting her a new drink.  
‘It will break my heart, but I think I’ll forgive him. He’ll regret it for a long time, but we’ll be married in a few years anyway.’ She said after shaking her head decisively. 

Stiles stared at her for a second, before looking towards a wide-eyed Laura. ‘She has the sight.’ She whispered. When Stiles looked at her questioningly, she elaborated. 

‘It’s said to be both a great gift and a great curse. People like her see the future. Sometimes it’s a version of it, sometimes it’s something more elaborate. Like the prediction she just made.’

Stiles shook his head, ‘I haven’t been to visit that often, but she never used to say anything. I’d remember if she—’ He turned pale. ‘Oh god.’

Laura stared at him, ‘What did you remember?’ 

Stiles shook his head and mustered his cousin.  
‘Years ago, when I was really little, she told me my mom would try to choke me to death, but I had to forgive her, because she didn’t mean it.’ He whispered blank faced. ‘I cried at the time, thought she tried to scare me.’

Derek bumped their shoulders together and wrapped an arm around him, while Laura took a step closer, looking concerned. ‘This is about her thinking you were send to kill her?’ 

Stiles nodded. 

‘I am so sorry.’ She whispered as she rubbed his shoulder.

‘I’m fine now.’ He reassured them both, he was relieved when his heartbeat staid steady. ‘Is there anything we can do for Aubrey?’

‘You can’t help those who have the sight.’ She whispered. ‘that’s the curse part of the equation.’

‘It just sucks that I won’t be able to beat up Tony for her when it happens.’

Laura smiled. ‘If you’re being a good little beta, I’ll fly you out for it.’  
Stiles snorted in disbelief.

 

The evening didn’t last long after that. Stiles didn’t even pretend to go home with Aubrey, he went straight back with Laura and Derek. Climbing into bed with them, letting himself be cuddled was just the thing he needed. Even if they made him shower before they let him in bed with them, because apparently having great sex made one smell bad.

The days following their club night, Stiles tried to fit in as many fun activities he could, visiting museums with Laura, going on morning runs with Derek before making breakfast together, looking around the university campus with both of them after and exploring the city with Aubrey and Dave, were just a few of the things he got up to.

He only went back to Noah to sleep, and sometimes, he didn’t even show up for that, but his uncle just winked at him knowingly. Stiles could only hope to god that nothing of this was being shared with his father.

After Laura had learned about Stiles’ past adventures in the city, she’d gotten them wolfsbane laced booze and made them play ‘Never have I ever’ which had Stiles and her smashed by the end of it, while Derek had stayed annoyingly sober. 

‘You two are horrible.’ He mumbled, while cleaning up after them.

‘No, we’re sex positive!’ Laura yelled after him, while Stiles groaned. ‘It’s the summer camp. You don’t just make friends there. I don’t know why that is, dude.’

Being drunk prompted them to exchange embarrassing stories about back of the car moments.  
Like the time Stiles had ate out Kira, from summer camp, and she’d squirted all over them and then freaked out and locked him out of the car butt naked, because she’d been so ashamed.  
It had taken him half an hour of reassuring, to get her to let him back in. By the time she did just that, he had a sunburned ass, to boot.

After Derek stopped snorting, he shared, that he’d been thoroughly put off the idea of deep throat, when a girl had tried to deepthroat him without any prior knowledge as to how that worked, then chocked and puked all over them.  
‘That deserves a Darwin award.’ Laura giggled.

‘Mine is actually kind of a fail. We were on one of those ‘glow in the dark festivals’ where you throw around colors and stuff, right? And I went back to the car with this guy, who was all pink and when we came back, my crotch glowed pink and I didn’t notice for hours.’ She snorted into the pillow next to her while Stiles outright cackled.

The night continued like that. ‘The weirdest one has got to be Jackson. He’s the resident bully of Beacon Hills, just a huge asshole in general, captain of the Lacrosse team, daddy lawyer, prom queen girlfriend, you know the type?’ 

Laura nodded. 

‘So, we were at the end of season party and really drunk, and he basically pulled me into a bedroom and begged me to fuck him.’

‘What?’ Laura stared at him. ‘I mean we all know the cliché of the repressed asshole but Jesus.’ She mumbled

‘Did you?’ Derek asked.

‘I was drunk and as much as I hate the guy, he looks like an Abercrombie and Fitch model.’

‘So, you did.’

‘Yeah, I didn’t do much. Prepped him and then he rode me. But it was the most intense sex I ever had, because he seemed so invincible before, and he totally lost himself during it. Really let go. Part of why I agreed was because he used to give me so much shit all through middle school and freshman year of high school, I honestly didn’t expect him to react to me like that.’

‘It’s weird how people can fake a whole relationship, when they are not even attracted to the gender of their partner.’ Derek agreed. 

‘He could be bisexual.’ Laura mumbled.

‘Hmm. Doesn’t really matter. I’m trying not to think too much of it, to be honest. It will only make going back to school even weirder.’

‘Jesus, I sometimes forget that you’re just a kid. Wait, when did this happen?’

‘I’ll be eighteen soon and the week before I left to come to New York.’

‘Did you tell him, you’d be leaving?’ Laura asked.

‘Why would I? He’s in a relationship.’

‘Stiles is right, the guy cheated, if he wants something from Stiles, he needs to contact him, not the other way around.’ Derek patted his hair after saying that. Huh, was this an older-brother-esque moment?

‘So, what about you, weirdest thing that ever happened to you?’

Laura stared at them both before taking another sip.  
‘I came home from school and saw Peter make out with dad, once.’

‘What?’ Derek’s head snapped to her so fast, Stiles thought he pulled something.

‘They weren’t really all that hush-hush about it. Mom knew.’

‘Jesus.’ Stiles mumbled. Then after a moment, ‘Do you think they had a—’ ‘Stiles!’ Derek yelled alarmed. ‘Oh, I don’t think, I’m sure.’ Laura called over Derek’s hissy fit, while Stiles laughed his ass off. They fell asleep on the couch that night. Well half on the couch, half on the floor. It was great.

 

The night before Stiles had to leave, they ordered food in and spent as much time, as they could, in what Stiles had dubbed, ‘the puppy pile’. They were all dreading him leaving and tried to strengthen the bond as much as possible before then.

The next morning Stiles had to be at Noah’s bright and early, to be delivered to the airport. Laura and Derek had not stopped touching him all morning, giving him some of their clothes, that still smelled like them. A few Henley’s and a thumbhole sweater from Derek and a shawl, an oversized sleep shirt and a beanie from Laura.

They managed to get in a few cuddly moments, during the morning madness, that was trying to separate Stiles from the Hales. In four weeks, he’d managed to make himself at home in their apartment and now they had to extract him out of their lives and pack him up, to give him back.  
He’d left some things, because they all knew he’d be back. A spare charger. The book he’d wanted to read on his holidays but hadn’t managed to. The leather bands he’d worn to the club and the hoodie that had survived his near-death experience. The hoodie wasn’t really his choice. Laura just didn’t give it back to him, but that was alright with him.

Laura had given him a few orders, alpha style. Any and all contact sports where out for him. If something were to happen to anyone, he was close to, he had to call one of them immediately. She also ordered him to go on a run every other day, to burn off the excess energy, eat well and get enough sleep. It all sounded pretty basic, but the way she growled it at him with her red eyes and her fangs, gave the commands a very different weight. He appreciated that. He could do with the extra self-care and since he was more prone to depression, as a wolf away from his pack, he took it for what it was.

Laura had pulled him into another tight hug, before he was pushed out the door.

 

___________________________________o.O.o___________________________________

 

His father stared for a moment before he went in for the hug. ‘Dear god, what did Noah feed you?’ he asked baffled.  
Stiles laughed. ‘I guess I just hit another growth spurt.’ Stiles finally admitted.  
‘Growth spurts don’t usually work that way.’ His dad snarked.  
‘Dad, it’s not that big a deal, I did a lot of running in New York and I met some cool people at the local gym.’ 

His father nodded, before grinning. ‘I’m happy you had such a good time.’

Stiles smiled, while lifting his luggage into his dad’s cruiser. ‘I had a great time, dad.’

Since Stiles couldn’t tell his dad about the clubbing, the sex or the Hales, he just focused on the sightseeing, how his cousins were doing and how much he liked the university campus and wanted to go back there.

 

‘So, we’re aiming at college in New York, huh?’  
His dad asked knowingly.

‘Yup.’ He said, popping the ‘p’. ‘If I don’t get a killer scholarship elsewhere.’  
His father nodded. 

‘How do you think you’ll like working with your old man a few times a month?’ 

‘I think we’ll be okay. I won’t get into anything I’m not supposed to.’ He promised solemnly, while his father nodded.

‘It would be great if I didn’t have to set your work place up in a holding cell.’ His father allowed.

‘Jesus.’ Stiles stared at him for a second before they both broke into laughter.

‘I missed you, kid.’ His dad said while pulling him into another hug.  
‘I missed you, too, dad.’ Stiles admitted. New York had been great, but this was his dad.  
He immediately felt the connection to his father; his wolf’s acknowledgement of the parental figure was really important.  
When they sat in the cruiser his dad started talking about work again.  
‘Well, I for one think, that it will be a great experience for you, especially with your goals, they didn’t change, did they?’

‘No, we’re still good.’ Stiles mumbled as he breathed in the cruiser and let his wolf imprint on the scent of his father.

They picked up some food on the way home and spent the night watching old cop movies.  
When Stiles fell asleep that night, listening to his father’s reassuringly steady heartbeat, he felt at peace.

The next morning, he started with the mandated run and a healthy-ish breakfast, before he changed into his ripped jeans and one of Derek’s Henley’s and pulled over Laura’s black beanie. He felt too much like a scene kid and threw a red plaid shirt over the black outfit, to break it up.  
Meeting Scott again was nice. Stiles had always felt something like brotherly love towards Scott. The only thing that put a slight damper on their reunion, was the fact that he now knew how little Scott actually listened to him. The disconnect he was feeling with his best friend made him miss his pack even more.

School was okay. The initial assault of different scents, cheap perfumes and deodorants had giving him a headache until he focused on himself, the soft notes of Derek and Laura that still carried through their clothes. After that, he felt a lot better.


	3. settling into the madness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys. I had the stomach flu and then I needed the time to catch up on some of my studying and real life stuff.

Scott wasn’t all there and when he was, he usually just needed him to give him encouragement on his mission to change everything this year. How he would overcome his asthma and make first line, Stiles didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to ruin his friends good mood, besides there were plenty of athletes that had health conditions, so why couldn’t Scott be one of them.

Jackson was behaving decidedly weird. Stiles had tried to ignore the other teen as best as he could, but the problem was that the guy would not stop staring at him.  
It drove him nuts, until the wolf’s emotion washed over him, like a wave of calm, reminding him that he was the predator in this scenario.  
Since Stiles didn’t really talk to anyone, besides Scott, he didn’t realize before how many people were paying attention to them.  
His usual tunnel vision was something he’d probably lost forever, with the attentiveness of the wolf he was hyperaware of the stares and the scents wafting over. People were talking about him.  
He tried not to listen in, because he wasn’t interested in hearing what they had to say. For him it wasn’t about his image or making this his year. Drawing attention to himself by changing everything to become popular and get the girl, the boy, Jackson, whatever, was the last thing he wanted.

Quiet repetition sounded great to him. Going to school, helping Scott study, working out a little with Scott, playing video games with Scott, eating with his dad, going on long runs. Skyping Laura and Derek every night. Doing his homework in his free period, life was easy like that.  
Maintaining the routine. He could do that.  
And if it meant he could actually manage not to get into too much trouble, his dad would definitely let him go back to New York for the summer.  
Stiles knew his dad, even though he wasn’t as involved in his life as he could be. Good behavior like that was rare for him and thus had to be rewarded like nobody’s business.

However, he quickly realized that the ‘under the radar experience’ he had been aiming for wasn’t going to work for him. At least not as easily as he’d hoped.  
Especially since Jackson’s gaze hunted him, even after a week of being back, worse Lydia and Danny had taken notice of it, too. So, he had now three people on his case. 

 

The cherry on top of the crap cake that had been fourth week back, however, had absolutely nothing to do with any of them. No, it was the hour-long discussion he’d had with the Coach, about quitting the team, that almost broke him. The coach had practically foamed at the mouth by the end of it. After that was done, he quickly texted Laura.

 

Stiles -> Laura [13:22pm]  
It took me an hour and some very unrealistic threats, but the coach finally let me quit Lacrosse.

Laura -> Stiles [13:25pm]  
You told me you were shit at it? Why did he fight you so hard on it?

Stiles -> Laura [13:26pm]  
I give the others a nice ego boost with how bad I am and apparently, he’s always loved me like a son.

Laura -> Stiles [13:27pm]  
What even? Was he serious?

Stiles -> Laura [13:28pm]  
As serious as a heart attack. He told me that my decision to quit the moment I fucking grew into my shoulders, was equivalent to spitting into his face.

Laura -> Stiles [13:28pm]  
You have very nice shoulders.

Stiles -> Laura [13:29pm]  
At least I’m officially done with Lacrosse.

Laura -> Stiles [13:30pm]  
Derek says, it’s a bullshit sport anyway.

Stiles -> Laura [13:30pm]  
lol

‘Who are you texting?’ Scott asked. ‘I excused you in English, by the way, the teacher knows you had to talk to Finstock and doesn’t mind. She didn’t even write you up.’

‘Cool. Thanks for that. Just someone I met in New York.’ He shrugged.

‘There’s a new girl in school. She’s really pretty, asked me if she could borrow a pen, but I didn’t have any extra.’ He admitted grimly.

‘I’m sure your chances with her weren’t dependent on a borrowed pen.’ Stiles mumbled, while putting his phone away.  
Scott looked honestly nervous ‘I’m not sure, dude she looked really disappointed.’  
‘Who doesn’t bring a pen to school?’ Stiles asked honestly confused.  
‘I don’t know dude, but she’s really pretty.’  
Stiles laughed. ‘Wow. You’ve got it bad.’ 

When Scott just grinned at that, he looked at his best friend for a moment, before he nodded, ‘I hope it works out for you.’ Scott gave him his signature puppy look. ‘She smells perfect and she even has a pretty name.’  
‘Yeah?’ ‘Hmm… it’s French. Allison Argent. Pretty right?’ Stiles shoulders tensed immediately. He took a deep breath, shrugged and said. ‘It’s a nice name, I guess.’

 

After school he sat down in his car and immediately called Laura. ‘Stiles?’ ‘Might be a false alarm, but the hunting family, that was questionable, the one you and Derek are especially paranoid of, that one, wasn’t ‘Argent’ was it?’

There was a long pause over the phone. ‘You remembered that correctly. The ones we warned you about at least ten times before you left were in fact the Argents.’

Stiles blew out the breath he’d been holding in. ‘Okay. Shit. Okay. They are back in Beacon.’  
‘What?’  
‘Allison Argent goes to my school. You’ve got to get Peter out of here.’

‘Stiles there’s a reason you don’t take a severely injured werewolf out of the environment they are used to. It can drive them mad. Also, if we were to get him transported now, it would alert them to us.’ She sounded pained admitting that.

‘You don’t have to put him in a home in New York. Put him somewhere nearby. He’s a sitting duck here. Maybe find a pack that used to know you back then and ask them if he can stay in protected territory? I don’t know about this stuff, but I don’t want to think about what a hunting family with questionable values at best, might do with a comatose werewolf.’

Laura groaned, before she said ‘Shit. You’re right. Of course, you’re right. I can’t even really control who comes and visits him.’ She sounded pained, when she continued. ‘If hunters decide they want to take in a comatose werewolf for their little experiments, he’s done. Fuck.’ She cursed. ‘I’m calling you back. Don’t draw attention to yourself.’ She mumbled, sounding already a mile away.  
‘Sure. I’ll text Derek in a minute. He’s still at work.’  
‘Yeah that would be great actually. Bye Stiles, take care.’

After finishing the call, he shot a quick text to Derek. 

Stiles -> Derek [15:01]  
Hey, dude, don’t freak out, but the Argents are back in Beacon Hills. I’m going to school with Allison Argent. I’m keeping a low profile. Already called Laura, she’s working on getting Peter out of here. 

 

Derek -> Stiles [15:02]  
Be careful. Don’t scent anyone at school, try to limit physical contact as much as possible. It would be best if you didn’t talk to the girl at all. Thank you for worrying about Peter and for the last time, don’t call me dude.

Stiles -> Derek [15:03]  
I got you your girlfriend, I should be allowed to call you grumpy cat, if I want to.

 

Derek -> Stiles [15:03]  
You pointed loosely in her direction, before you went on to have sex with that blonde. I don’t think you can take all that much credit. 

Stiles laughed heartily at that but was brought of it by Scott’s hammering heartbeat that rapidly neared his jeep, he’d looked up just before the other teen could tap against his window. 

‘Are you coming to watch me dude?’ Scott asked smiling brightly. ‘Allison will be there, too.’

‘I honestly don’t care about Allison, but I’ll come to support you, if the coach doesn’t banish me from the field.’

Scott looked happily at him. ‘Thanks man. Here, can I give you this?’ He handed him his inhalator. Stiles was already carrying the spare for him, but this was Scott’s way of making sure, he’d definitely have one with him, while on the field.  
Stiles took his friends life line. ‘Yeah sure. You know that. I’m going to make sure I’ll be near the field, even if the coach decides to be an ass.’  
Scott actually looked relived. ‘Great. You know how it looks when it starts, and I just don’t want Allison to see, what it looks like, when it gets really bad. Not that I think it’s going to happen’  
Stiles nodded. ‘I got you.’

The moment they stepped foot on the field the coach went off on him, loud.  
‘You were like a son to me.’  
Stiles groaned, decidedly contrite. ‘Not again.’  
‘You disappointed me in a way only a son could disappoint his father.’ Coach raked a hand through his hair.  
Looking at the young man in front of him, he ground out. ‘You’re the reason I drink.’

Stiles couldn’t just not. He stared in disbelief at the older man. ‘You’re giving me too much credit.’ 

The coach stared at him for a moment, smiled and shook his head, mumbling something about guts. Then he finally addressed Stiles again. ‘Why are you here?’

Stiles looked exasperated. ‘I’m here because I want to support my friend.’

‘Alright, sit down.’ He nodded towards the place on the stands that was directly next to where the coach would stand for most of the training, before he screamed over the field, ‘Jackson stop undressing Stilinski with your eyes. You’re not in the locker room.’

Stiles felt himself grow pale as he looked over to where the captain was indeed staring at him, with his angry face. Weird to think that he’d actually seen the guy’s O-face when he came sobbing out his name, while Stiles was still buried to the hilt in his ass. Shit, he needed to stop thinking about that, he could already feel Lydia’s burning gaze behind him and Danny’s questioning look on him.

Although, let’s be honest, between the two of them Lydia’s was scarier. He’d seen her all prim and proper with a dark-haired girl, that was probably Allison. She didn’t seem all that special to him, but if he took into consideration what the family business was, it wasn’t all that surprising that she put him off.

He stopped thinking about all that and focused in on Scott. He could already hear the rattling in his lungs. Today wouldn’t go over without an asthma attack. Shit.

The girls talked. Lydia obviously didn’t like Scott and Allison was indecisive towards him, she seemed to need Scott to impress Lydia to be happy with him. And wasn’t that a fucked-up dynamic? Poor Scott, deserved better than this. 

 

Stiles mustered the field. Straight from the start, the pressure was on. His friend was put in the goal which was good. Less running meant less risk of an early end. He’d actually managed to hold a few and did a decent job of it, too. That was until Jackson came at him. 

After a humiliating second round in the goal, the coach made them run suicides. Stiles wolf was already prowling, itching to stop his friend before the attack actually happened. But with the coaches frantic loosely motivational screaming he couldn’t just interrupt, unless he actually wanted to be banned from the field.

Scott managed three more rounds, before he collapsed. By the time his knees the floor, Stiles was already up, and running.  
He nimbly jumped over the bench and ran at a moderately high speed towards his friend, who’s breath was quickening at an alarming rate.  
He smoothly shoved another player out of the way, took the inhaler and helped Scott take a few pumps.  
By the time Scott could breathe normally again, the coach nodded at Stiles, seemingly speechless, before addressing Scott.  
‘Next time, stop before... There’s no need to do that again.’  
Coach nodded decisively, happy with his advice. Before adding. ‘Take him home Stilinski, we’re only doing more endurance today.’ 

Stiles quickly agreed, while pulling his friend up with ease. He had to support most of his weight as he half carried him, back to the locker rooms.

He would have loved to spare Scott from Lydia’s big fake smile and Allison’s pitying gaze. Honestly, what shit people. Jesus, he’d really tried here, but no one could fault him for not wanting to fit in with this crowd.

‘They don’t matter.’ Stiles whispered.  
Scott shook his head. ‘This year was supposed to be different.’  
Stiles nodded. ‘I know.’  
Scott hadn’t talked about anything else all break. The texts spoke for itself. ‘If it wasn’t for this shit asthma, I would have made the team and I’d have gotten the girl.’ Scott whined.

‘You don’t know that, maybe she’s a lesbian or maybe she’s heads over heels in love with some other guy or maybe she has a really shit personality that would have totally put you off.’  
Scott ignored him completely, ‘Did you get the part were the coach told you that you were like a son to him?’ ‘I already went through an hour of that today, I’m desensitized.’  
Scott snorted. At least he’d managed to make the guy laugh.

On their way out of the locker room, they almost ran into Jackson, who looked like he wanted to say something, but Stiles made sure to get Scott out of there, before the asshole could say something shitty.

He took the bike and carefully set it in the back of his jeep, it didn’t quite fit, but his dad’s cops weren’t going to write him up. ‘I’m driving you home.’ He asserted. ‘Thanks, man.’ Scott only nodded, while sitting down.  
After delivering Scott back home, he hurried back to his own home. Made himself a quick sandwich and texted Derek.

Stiles -> Derek [16:37]  
My friend had an asthma attack on the field, trying to impress the Argent girl. I had his inhaler and helped him, but I didn’t use any wolf strength. At first it felt horrible to actually let it play out, but I’m better now.

Derek called a moment later.  
‘Stiles, how are you?’  
The moment he heard Derek’s voice he relaxed his tense shoulders. ‘Better, now.’ Derek smiled. ‘Good. I’m really impressed with you, Laura will be, too.’  
‘Thank you. I don’t know this day has been just one shit-show after another.’  
‘What happened?’  
‘My coach threatened me today, then told me he loved me like a son and tried to tell me I was the reason he drank, which honestly was just a wild ride. Shortly after that, two of the most popular girls in school made fun of my friend who’d worked his ass off trying to get on the team and was made to leave by the couch, because he had an asthma attack.’ He mumbled tiredly into the phone.

Derek’s voice was almost empathetic. ‘What the fuck is going on over there?’  
‘Right? I’m not crazy.’  
‘No, you’re not crazy, that sounds like a lot.’

‘I left out the best part, I also have a stalker.’

‘What?’ Derek sounded immediately murder ready. That’s when he realized that Derek’s heartbeat had gone through the roof. ‘Derek?’ No answer, then, ‘Is it one of the hunters?’

‘What no? It’s the dude I told you about. Jackson, he keeps staring and following me and it’s gotten to a point where his girlfriend and his best friend are noticing it, too.’

‘Did you talk to him about it?’

‘No.’

‘Maybe you should.’

‘I really don’t want to.’

‘It’s not because you have feelings, is it?’

‘What no? This is Jackson.’

‘Don’t let the situation escalate. Ask him to be less obvious. I don’t know.’

‘Yeah well, I think it already did.’

‘Why are you saying that, Stiles? We’re just working on a strategy here.’

‘Because Jackson just parked in front of my house. Also, in what universe does ‘ask him to be less obvious, I don’t know’, count as a fucking strategy?’ Stiles grouched.  
‘At least I know now, that I can definitely defend myself against him, if he tries to threaten me or something.’

‘Stiles, I don’t think he came over to threaten you…’

‘Why would he… oh.’ 

‘Yeah ‘oh’.’ Derek snorted.

‘Keep us on the phone.’ Laura called somewhere in the background.  
‘What? No!’  
‘Stiles.’  
‘I’m hanging up now.’  
‘Stiles.’  
‘Don’t you dare, Laura.’  
‘I’m going to Alpha you into submission, this is the most exciting thing that happened all week.’

He was already in the entrance hall, when she started to argue with him. He didn’t really think about it, when he opened the door with his phone still wretched between his shoulder and his ear.  
‘I don’t care, get cable, read Derek’s texts with May, they are funny as hell. Talk later.’

Jackson pulled an eyebrow up as he mustered Stiles.

He took a moment to sort himself out, before greeting the other man. ‘Jackson.’  
Jackson glanced nervously around, before looking at him.  
‘What do you want?’ Stiles asked, to break the weird silence.  
‘To talk inside.’ Jackson said, while pressing lightly against the door. He smelled like nerves and hope. His wolf brimmed with energy.  
‘Okay.’ Stiles moved out of the way and let the shorter man in.

‘Have you been telling people?’ Jackson immediately asked, when they both stood in Stiles entry hall.  
‘No, I haven’t. I mean it’s been what? Two months? Don’t you think if I was going to tell anyone I’d already have done so by now?’  
‘Yeah well, Lydia knows something.’ Jackson took a step forward, trying to crowd him in.  
‘She’s been pestering me about you all day.’ He stared at Stiles chest for a moment. ‘She thinks you’re doing this for me.’ He pressed the last part out between clenched teeth.

Stiles didn’t know how to react to that. ‘Lydia’s crazy smart, so if you’ve been acting any different, she –‘ ‘I haven’t.’ Jackson took another step toward him, which left only a little bit of space between them, since Stiles couldn’t back off. His wolf was brimming with energy. Wanting to proof to the idiot that kept hunting them, that they were the predator not the other way around.  
‘Even the coach noticed you staring.’ Stiles didn’t back off.  
‘I wasn’t.’ Stiles looked at Jackson searchingly, but the man wasn’t looking at his face instead focusing on his chest. ‘You’re doing it right now, though.’ He said.

Jackson’s eyes snapped back to his face. ‘You didn’t say.’

‘I didn’t say what?’ Stiles asked. ‘If this was for me.’  
Stiles scratched the back of his head. ‘It wasn’t. It isn’t. I work out because it helps with my ADHD.’ And my wolfyhood. And my general health, he added mentally.  
Jackson nodded, ‘You’re a lot calmer.’ He agreed, and this was throwing Stiles off. Not that Jackson had noticed, but that he admitted to it.

‘I didn’t even tell Scott, so there’s really no reason to take anything out on him.’ He added.  
‘I wasn’t. It’s practice, if we don’t go hard, we’ll lose.’ Then he mumbled. ‘Why did you quit the team?’

Stiles stared at Jackson as if he had grown an extra head. ‘I quit because I’m really fucking bad at it. Always have been. I’m better at other stuff and I’d rather do something that makes me feel good.’ 

‘It works for you.’ Jackson admitted. Eyes flickering over him again.  
‘So, I was thinking…’ His eyes snapped back to Stiles’, ‘that we could do that again. Lydia is on my case anyway, so why not, you know, do something that makes us feel good?’ He added, smirking slightly.

Stiles eyes widened when he realized what Jackson meant. ‘Why?’  
Jackson laughed sardonically, ‘Because I’m gay, Stilinski.’ He seemed to start losing it, running his hand through his perfectly styled hair. ‘I thought that was clear after I asked you to fuck me at my girlfriend’s party.’  
Stiles stared at him for a moment. Asked, begged, he could correct him later. ‘You’re in a relationship.’  
‘Yes, thank you, I’m aware.’  
Stiles didn’t know what to do. On one hand he’d like to fuck Jackson again. Sex with him had been good.  
On the other hand, he didn’t trust Jackson to be casual about it, the way he was behaving now, was already bad enough.

Stiles stared at him. ‘I mean it depends.’ Stiles said while letting his gaze wander over Jackson. He’d obviously dressed up for this, he looked really nice.  
‘On what?’ Jackson asked slowly.  
‘If you can keep the staring down.’  
‘I’m not—’ ‘Yes you are and it’s really obvious.’ Jackson looked angry for a moment, before he bit his bottom lip and nodded. ‘I’ll keep it down.’

‘Good.’ Stiles nodded and the next thing he knew Jackson had fucking jumped him. Kissing him and biting at his bottom lip, prying for access. There was nothing slow about this, this was hard and fast. So, he got with the program and pulled harshly at Jackson, switching places, so that it was him that was crowding Jackson against the wall. 

The kisses were hard and deep, and Jackson moaned into him, gripped at his shirt, started to buck up against him, seemingly lost in what they were doing.

Stiles laughed breathily against his lips. ‘So, fucking needy.’ He murmured, while looking at Jackson, taking in his mussed-up hair and how he had already wrapped his legs around Stiles hips, the muscular body felt tense and heavy against Stiles’ own.

He placed his hands on the other teens ass and lifted him away from the wall. Thanks to the wolf’s strength Jackson, muscular tough Jackson, didn’t weigh more than a bag of rice to him. ‘Fuck Stiles what are you on.’ Jackson groaned against him, eyes wide over the fact that he was being carried up the stairs. ‘Weight training schedule and healthy eating is what I’m on. Can’t keep this up for long, though.’ Stiles lied, as he deposited them on his bed.

Actually, talking to Jackson was weird to him, the last time they’d been absolutely shit faced. 

When Jackson stared up at him unsure, he hauled him back up and pulled his shirt off, while Jackson started working on his own clothes.  
A few hectic moments later they were naked, and Jackson was sat on his lap, with a very obvious hard on. Bucking against his muscled stomach for friction while Stiles prepped his ass.  
When he pushed the second finger in past the second knuckle, Jackson desperately broke away from the kiss to gasp for air, ‘Right there. Fuck.’ He groaned as Stiles slowly ghosted over the spot inside Jackson that brought the guy to the edge.  
Jackson wasn’t having any of that, he grasped Stiles by the back of his neck and pulled him in again, biting his bottom lip roughly, ‘Stop fucking teasing me.’ He gasped out, when Stiles pushed up against that spot with renewed vigor. He only stopped when Jackson was a breathless withering mess on top of him and his stomach was painted in cum.

‘M’ ready.’ Jackson mumbled, slightly out of it, against him. So, Stiles carefully laid him out on the bed, positioned himself between his thighs, put on the condom and rubbed slow circles over Jackson’s hipbones as he slid home.  
They both needed a moment before Stiles could move. Jackson was tight around him, even as relaxed as he was. But as soon as he started pulling out, purposefully grinding across that special spot inside Jackson, he had him gasping out his name in abandon and that was all it took to spur Stiles into movement.  
Jackson didn’t want it slow and sweet, and neither did Stiles, they weren’t like that, not in general and especially not with each other.  
So, after a first few careful thrusts, he had situated himself over Jackson and was kissing him deeply while he picked up the pace of his thrusts, bringing them both closer to the edge again.  
It didn’t take long for Jackson to start grinding up against him. If there could be one thing said about Jackson it was that the guy truly wasn’t shy, he moaned and gasped and scratched at Stiles while frantically trying to meet his thrusts, prolonging the moment as best he could.  
But Stiles was close too and he wanted to see the other man get off again, so he started tugging him off and when he came while muffling the keening noise with his own hand, Stiles followed immediately.

After they were done Stiles immediately pushed himself away from Jackson, lying next to him, breathing hard, as did Jackson. 

‘That was intense.’ Stiles mumbled. Jackson didn’t say anything. He still had his eyes closed and tried to get his bearings.  
When he finally came back down, he mumbled ‘Shower.’ And Stiles agreed.  
After tugging the condom off, tying it off and throwing it away, he followed Jackson into his bathroom. In their Jackson sucked him off, while Stiles did his best not to claw at the shower tiles and instead focused on grasping at his own hair, not trusting himself to tug at Jackson’s.  
Jackson, who stared up at him and gave him an amazingly sloppy blow job.

Stiles was almost sure that it was the first time he did that for another guy, but what he lacked in technique he more than made up for in enthusiasm.  
When they were done, they quickly put their clothes back on, but Stiles halted Jackson at the door.

‘I like this, but if you treat me like shit at school, this is over immediately. I’m not that desperate for a fuck.’ He leveled the other guy with an unyielding stare.  
‘I haven’t been doing anything like that, since freshman year and I won’t start, now.’ Jackson shrugged, while checking his phone.  
‘Shit. Lydia called.’  
Stiles would have felt guilty, but this wasn’t his relationship. Of course, cheating was crappy, but that was Jackson’s and Lydia’s problem. If it wasn’t him, Jackson would find someone else, for sure.  
‘Better call her back then.’ he said lightly, as he closed the door behind the other guy.

After Jackson drove away Stiles went to get his phone and saw that he’d missed a call from Laura.

 

-

 

She picked up at the second ring.

‘Hey, sorry I didn’t pick up earlier.’  
‘I’ll comment on you and Abercrombie later, I just got news about Peter. They are transferring him to Rhode Island as we speak. The alpha there, used to know him and wants to help him.’  
‘What’s the catch?’  
‘Information on the Argents. Gerard Argent, Allison’s grandfather crossed them badly a few months ago.’

‘So, do you want me to spy a little?’ Stiles asked, as he tipped back on his computer chair, looking at the ceiling.  
‘God no.’ Laura snorted. ‘We have enough information on their family’s misgivings. I just want you to keep your head down and tell me about anything unusual that happens. If a situation seems dangerous hightail it the fuck out of there.’  
‘So, I’m just keeping out of trouble?’  
‘Yes, you are.’ Laura growled at him.  
‘Ok.’  
‘So, you fucked Abercrombie again?’  
‘Why are you calling him that?’  
‘I’m on his Facebook page as we speak, and the guy just fits the nickname.’  
‘How do you even know about my Facebook?’  
‘Derek’s kind of pissed that you told me about his texts with May.’ Laura explained.  
Stiles laughed. ‘Come on.’  
‘I know.’  
‘They are hilarious, though aren’t they?’ He teased.  
‘Derek is not used to woman who aren’t at least a little aggressive in their pursuit.’ Laura snorted, obviously agreeing.  
‘The social awkward is killing me every time.’  
Laura cackled. ‘I know.’  
‘Would you two stop?!’ Derek called.  
‘Derek come look at Stiles’ boytoy.’  
‘Don’t call him that.’  
‘What are you in a relationship?’  
‘What? No, I’m not even sure he likes me like that.’  
‘Why is this so confusing to you?’  
‘Attraction and lust don’t equal romantic feelings.’ Stiles stared at his hands, thinking back to Jackson and his interaction.  
‘He’s got a point!’ Derek called from behind Laura. ‘Dude looks like an Abercrombie.’ He continued.  
‘Dammit Derek I said I was sorry.’ Stiles laughed.  
‘Wait is the one giving that puppy smile, Scott?’ Laura asked.  
‘Yeah.’  
‘He’s kinda cute.’  
‘Yuck. He’s like my brother.’  
They quickly switched to skype and started to talk a little more about what has been going on in New York, mainly Laura’s date with Dave, and about the deal Laura managed to strike with the Rhode Island alpha.  
‘What do you think will happen to the Argents?’  
‘If we’re lucky, they’ll take them out.’  
‘Damn. –‘ ‘Stiles are you home?’ His dad called from the stairs. 

‘Go.’ Laura said smiling. ’We’ll talk again tomorrow.’ Stiles smiled relieved. ‘I miss you both like crazy. This is really great. Thank you.’  
‘Are you kidding, we’ve been moping around since you left. This helps us as much as it helps you!’

‘Stiles?’ ‘Yes, I’m coming!’ He called back, smiling at Laura before logging off.

‘I’ve brought dinner.’ His dad smiled brightly at him. The rest of the evening was spent with Stiles explaining his decisions to quit Lacrosse. ‘I’m glad. You need to do stuff that makes you happy. Not stuff that looks good on paper.’ His dad agreed.  
‘I wouldn’t be as supportive of this decision, if I didn’t know for a fact that you weren’t slacking off.’ He admitted. ‘You know you’ve been a lot calmer since coming back.’  
‘Hmm.’ Stiles hummed noncommittedly.

The rest of the night was spent relaxing.


	4. an interrogation is nothing without a good confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm kind of contemplating correcting a mistake that would mess up a lot of follow up references and it's really embarrassing.  
> I don't know why I remembered this wrongly but somehow my mind supplied me with the stellar info that a flight from California to New York would only take about three hours (which is wrong).
> 
> But since I'm an idiot and I wrote actual timelines for everything it's just a lot to correct. Because I actually already wrote like 80k for this story and there are a lot more flights (hello darkness my old friend) in there. SO PLEASE, take these unrealistic flight times with a grain of salt. I'll correct that sometime in the future. Probably.  
> Right now I just have more fun writing the new stuff and going back to edit everything would probably kill my enthusiasm for this.
> 
> Thank you.

That was until his phone chimed at 2 am. ‘Stiles.’ Laura’s voice sounded brittle, like she had cried.

‘What happened?’

‘It’s Peter. He turned feral.’

‘What?’

‘He must have been healing at an accelerated rate, since you came back to Beacon. He tried to attack the alpha, take her power for himself to kill the Argents. They couldn’t find a way to secure him, so they killed him.’

‘Oh god. I’m so sorry.’ Stiles whispered utterly shocked.

‘It’s bad. The only reason they didn’t take it out on us, was because they found plans in his things. Horrible plans.’ She hiccupped and he could hear Derek whine in the background. 

‘He planned to lure me back there to kill me… If you hadn’t suggested moving him, it would have worked.’ She cried even harder now. 

‘There’s no way I would have told Derek I was going back, wouldn’t have put him through that.’ There was scuffling on the other side of the phone.  
Then Derek took over. ‘Stiles is there any way you could come here for a few days?’ He mumbled.

‘I know you just got back, and you have a life there. But Laura… she needs to know you are alright and your wolf will be on edge until you can make sure she’s okay. She’s just lost the oldest pack bond she had left, and the betrayal of a beta always rattles the whole pack. I can buy you a ticket right now. I just need you to say you’ll come.’

Stiles felt incredibly on edge. On one hand he knew that this wasn’t something he could just not tell his dad, on the other hand he knew if he told him there was no way he’d be able to fly out. In this case it was better to ask for forgiveness later.

‘Buy the ticket. Do you think a day or two will be enough?’ 

‘Yes. We’ll take what we can.’

Then a few seconds later, ‘Alright. I send it to you. There’s a flight leaving in two hours. We’ll book the flight back to Beacon, once you’re here. That way we can account for your dad being a hardass.’ 

Stiles laughed. ‘Sure. Okay. I’ll print it out and get ready. I’ll call you before I get on the machine.’

Stiles quickly grabbed some gym clothes to sleep in, switched into casual clothes and made the quick but questionable decision to call Jackson. He was honestly the only one in Stiles contact list who had a car and knew how to drive it sufficiently. Scott hadn’t had his license that long and he was a hazard with his mom’s car, so the whole neighborhood would know if he drove. Stiles also knew he’d get into a lot more trouble when his jeep got toed, because he’d left it in the airport parking lot.

Jackson picked up at the sixth ring. ‘What the fuck Stiles?’ 

‘Jackson?’ 

‘Yes. Listen if you can’t handle this, then—’ 

‘Shut up. I need a ride to the airport. Can you drive me?’ There was a moment of silence, before there was the obvious rustling of clothing. 

‘Why can’t your dad drive you?’ 

‘Because this isn’t something my dad knows about. Listen if I wanted to explain shit, I would have called someone else are you in or not?’

Silence, then ‘I’ll be there in ten.’

Stiles immediately hung up and got his stuff in order. The moment Jackson drove down his street, he half climbed, half jumped out of his bedroom window.  
What he hadn’t thought was that Jackson was going to show up with Danny in tow.

‘He slept over.’ Jackson admitted begrudgingly while Stiles threw his sports bag in the backseat and sat down.

‘Doesn’t matter. I just need a ride to the airport.’ Then a second later he added. ‘Sorry, I meant: Hey Danny.’

Danny just stared at him. ‘Sure, you did, hey Stiles.’

Jackson was already out of his street. ‘So, what’s the occasion?’ he asked carefully.

‘I’m a free spirit.’ Stiles answered sarcastically.

Danny stared at him for a moment. ‘Your dad isn’t…?’ He started. 

Stiles didn’t get it. ‘My dad isn’t what?’ 

‘He’s not abusing you?’ Danny finished. 

‘What?’ Stiles voice went three pitches higher. ‘Fuck no. He never laid a hand on me. He just wouldn’t let me go.’

Danny nodded, then Jackson asked, ‘Are you coming back?’ 

Stiles was going through his phone refreshing the information on the flight. They still had well over an hour. He’d make it. 

‘Yeah dude, this is not a runaway situation. I’ll be back sometime next week.’ 

Jackson stared at him in the mirror, as if he was making sure he wasn’t lying.

‘Okay.’ He finally said.

Danny tried again. ‘Why did you call Jackson?’

‘He helped today with Scott, still had his number from a project we did last semester. Besides you can bet your ass that Scott’s being watched like a hawk by his mom after he has an attack. I don’t know if you noticed but I don’t talk to many people.’ He added the last park sarcastically.

‘Oh, I noticed.’ Danny said, watching him intently.

His phone rang. ‘Fucking Fuck.’ He cursed, before answering.

‘Hey dad.’

‘Please tell me your just with some girl from summer camp.’

‘You know about summer camp?’

‘You’re not, are you?’

‘I’m on my way to the airport, to visit friends in New York. They already bought the ticket.’

‘Stiles.’

‘Dad.’

‘Stiles are you fucking serious?’

‘There’s been a death in their family.’

‘So, they fly you out to do what exactly?’

‘Would it help if I told you this was about some boyfriend or girlfriend?’

‘It isn’t, though?’

‘I mean, would it help?’

‘Stiles.’

‘It’s not.’ He groaned. ‘They are friends. It’s just moral support.’

‘Stiles. I’m coming to the airport.’

‘Yeah, about that.’

‘What?’

‘Listen you need to trust me on this, I swear that it’s not anything bad. I’ll explain everything as soon as I land. With my friends, so that they can answer all of your questions.’

‘Are you doing drugs?’

‘Yes. Of course, dad, of course, I’m doing drugs. I’m such a central drug overlord in Beacon Hills, that they decided to fly me out to expand my ‘hard-drugs-only-imperium’.’ He answered sarcastically, unintentionally making Danny snort.

There was a stifled groan on the other end of the line.  
‘You’ll better explain this to me tomorrow and if it’s not a damn good explanation, I’ll put you on the no-fly list.’

‘You’d put your own son on the no-fly list?’

‘Well he just confessed to leading a hard-drugs-only-imperium.’

‘Wow, I can see how annoying that was, now.’

‘Call me when you land and Stiles?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Pull something like this again and we’re having that talk about you going back to therapy.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Call me when you land.’

‘I will.’

‘And I want that explanation.’

‘Okay.’

‘Bye.’

‘Talk later.’ 

After he hang up, he saw both Danny and Jackson look at him. 

‘What?’ He asked.

‘So, your friends are flying you out because their family member died?’

‘No, it’s my secret old ass sugar daddy, that promised me a huge check if I flew out to him to suck his dick tonight.’ He snarked, hoping it would shut Danny’s insistent prying up.

The boy only stared at him. ‘Seriously?’

Stiles stared right back, thinking about not answering, but then he saw Jackson’s shocked look. ‘What the fuck do you take me for?’

‘I mean everybody knows about summer camp.’ Danny shrugged. ‘You’re probably the only person at the school that has an active sex life besides me and Jackson.’

‘First of all, yes this is about my friends. Second of all, why does anyone care?’

‘Small town.’

‘Great so you’re going to start gossiping about this too?’

‘Not if you don’t want me to.’

‘I really, really don’t. I was just planning on telling people I’m sick.’

‘Okay, well they won’t hear anything from me.’ Danny nodded.

‘Your dad is really cool.’ Jackson added belatedly. 

Stiles smiled. ‘I know.’

 

They drove to the parking lot of the airport. ‘You want us to wait with you?’ Danny asked, which was just so freaking out of character that Stiles hesitated for a moment. 

‘Why?’ 

Danny shrugged. ‘There’s food in there and after this late-night excursion I’m kinda starved.’ 

Jackson nodded. ‘If you want to come you can, my flights leaving in roughly an hour anyway.’

‘Cool.’ Danny smiled at him. Was the dude flirting or was he being nice? Either way, it was freaking weird.

Since Stiles only had hand luggage with him and everyone who entered the airport had to go through basic security, he still had about forty-five minutes to beat before he could go to his gate.  
While Danny and Jackson bickered about what they were going to eat, Stiles called Derek.

‘Stiles.’ Derek murmured and damn, did he sound exhausted.

‘I’ll keep it short and sweet: the good news: I’m at the airport right now, the bad news: my dad noticed me sneaking out and wasn’t the biggest fan, so we’re all are going to have some explaining to do when I land.’

There was a short pause. ‘That’s okay. I’m honestly just really fucking grateful that you’re coming. Laura’s been beside herself since we got the news and having you around will make this infinitely easier for her. As her first Beta you have a different influence on her than me.’

‘Yeah I’ve been a little off, ever since you called me tonight, I think it’s just now hitting me.’ He snorted. ‘I basically told my dad I was flying out because I was the overlord of a ‘hard drugs only imperium.’ and he threatened to put me on the no-fly list.’

There was a short pause on the other end and then he heard Laura laugh. Hard. Derek started to join in, too, after a few moments.  
‘Only you Stiles.’ he groaned.

‘Listen, the guys that drove me here and I are going to eat something. I’ll be in New York in about 3 hours.’

‘We’ll be there.’ Derek promised.

It turns out that in the short time Stiles had spent calling Derek, Danny and Jackson had gotten all three of them Burgers, fries and a drink. Stiles hurried to pay a thoroughly confused Jackson back for all three of them as a thank you for driving him and to hopefully buy Danny’s silence and then bit into the most well-deserved burger ever.  
He’d been basically running on adrenaline for the past hour and half straight and that burger was godsent.

Danny mustered him for a moment. ‘So why did you quit lacrosse?’ He finally asked and wasn’t that wild? Danny was showing interest in Stiles. 

Stiles didn’t even look up, when he answered. ‘Because I’m really fucking bad at it.’

Danny nodded. ‘Yeah but you put on some muscle. You could be better now.’ 

Stiles shook his head. ‘Maybe so, but I enjoy boxing and running a lot more.’

Danny mustered him for a second and nodded. ‘You look better. More centered.’ He finally admitted.

‘Yeah it’s been helping with my ADHD.’ He nodded.

‘So, do you have a girlfriend?’ he continued. 

Stiles stared at him for a second. ‘Is this twenty-one-questions? Because if it is, I want some answers as well.’

Danny laughed. ‘I’m as single as can be. I used to be really into Matt, but I don’t think I’ll ever have a chance with the way he’s been drooling over the new girl.’

Stiles shook his head. ‘Dude no way. Matt’s way too creepy. Didn’t you notice how he was with Judy when he liked her? Always used to take pictures of her, even at her house and with her at the time boyfriend.’ 

He shook his head. ‘Gotta hate the dudes that can’t take no for an answer.’

Danny stared at him. ‘Was that why you destroyed his camera back then?’

Stiles nodded. ‘The dude’s a creeper. Did you never wonder why he didn’t ask for repercussions? It’s because they would have looked at the camera and he couldn’t have them find the disturbing amount of creeper shots.’ 

He grinned slow and wide at that. ‘Pissing him off was the best thing I did that month.’

Danny stared at him as if he saw him for the first time. ‘I really misjudged you.’ He finally said. 

Stiles mustered him for a moment and shrugged. ‘It’s not like I care a lot about what other people think of me, no offense.’

Danny nodded. 

‘So, I don’t have a girlfriend or boyfriend.’ Stiles finally said, while throwing his burger paper in the garbage can near them.

Jackson stared at him for a moment. His heartbeat sped up slightly as he took in the situation.

‘Why not?’ He finally asked staring at Stiles’ fries as if they had all the answers.

‘Never tried to have one. I like flirting and I like having sex, but I didn’t try to connect with someone that way.’ He mumbled. ‘My friends are really important to me and so is my family. I get a lot of love and support from them. So, I guess I never thought I missed out on anything.’ He finally admitted. 

Then stared at Jackson. ‘Wow, this shit got deep.’

‘I get that.’ Danny agreed. ‘Except with me it’s the opposite. My family and I aren’t really that close and except for Jackson I don’t have any other close friends, so I need someone to be in my life that way.’

Stiles shrugged. ‘It’s different for everybody. I mean Jackson and Lydia have been together for how long now? A year?’

Jackson nodded. ‘Yeah, but she’s not. We’re not…’ He didn’t finish, Danny did. 

‘They are great individually, but miserable together. It’s because Jackson’s a natural overachiever and Lydia exploits that. She pushes and pushes and pushes him to be better and because it’s Jackson’s sore spot, he lets her.’

Stiles stared at Danny in disbelief for a second, then at Jackson. ‘I’m sorry, dude. I won’t tell that to anyone.’ He said that sincerely. 

Jackson didn’t even seem that mad or frustrated. He just looked as if this wasn’t anything new. Danny spilling the beans on his relationship problems.

‘You shouldn’t be telling that to other people.’ He said to Danny. ‘I mean I get that you don’t want your friend to suffer, but you got to respect his decision to stay with her. Even if you don’t think much of it.’

Danny actually looked guilty, while Jackson just stared at Stiles.

‘Since you did, I’ll tell you something to, to even the playing field or whatever.’ He mumbled, staring at his hands.  
‘Do you think I’m a fan of Scott doing Lacrosse? Do you think I like seeing my friend push himself into an asthma attack trying to be popular or get the girl or whatever? I don’t. I really don’t. But I wouldn’t make him feel like shit over it, because I can guarantee you that nothing, I’ll have to say to him about that, will be something he hasn’t already told himself.’ 

Danny stared at him for a moment. ‘You’re right. It’s just hard.’ Stiles nodded. 

‘I get that.’ Danny looked like he wanted to say more but Stiles cellphone alarm went off alerting him to get his ass to the gate.

He looked down at this phone. ‘Time’s up, guys. Thank you for driving me and for the great company.’ He said smiling at them both, because this had been surprisingly nice. 

‘I’ll see you in a few days.’ He added half-heartedly, ‘Stay out of trouble.’ 

And wasn’t that a fucking joke. Danny seemed to agree, because he laughed, loud and bright, while Stiles hurried to check in.

‘I get it, now.’ Danny murmured.

‘What?’ Jackson asked, still feeling kind of weird about everything that had happened that day. ‘Why you like him so much.’ Jackson stared at him for a moment. ‘Yeah, he’s cool.’ he admitted.

Meanwhile Stiles felt bad that he’d heard the exchange, but it was also nice to know that they were cool with him. Prior to today he never thought he could hit up Jackson, of all people, to come help in an emergency or chat with Danny about life and whatnot.

Pushing his thoughts of the two to the back of his mind, he boarded the plane and thought about meeting Laura and Derek again.

During the flight he’d taken notes on how to possibly explain to his dad what had happened.  
His notes weren’t plentiful, in fact all he had when he landed in New York was a note that said: the truth? 

Arriving at the airport at ssix in the morning was a pain. A lot of people were already up and about, rushing to and from their gates, but when Stiles walked through his gate and saw Derek, in his pajamas, the dude had an incredible zero-fucks-given-attitude at times, and Laura, huddled in his hoodie, smelled the two of them, he felt like he’d come home to his second family.  
They immediately huddled together and hugged and ruffled each other’s hair. Trying to scent the others as subtly as they could.

In the car Derek drove and Laura sat in the backseat with Stiles, practically on his lap, her head buried in his neck.

‘It’s called ‘grounding’’ Derek explained, when he saw Stiles curious look. 

‘Making a beta is important to an alpha. They give a part of themselves away and create a new family member in doing so.’  
He mustered them through the rearview mirror before he continued.  
‘Laura’s been an alpha for six years and she’s never made a Beta. Her wolf has been on the prowl to expand the pack since the fire, so making you was a really big deal to her. For the both of us, really. The pack bond was bright and instantaneous after that first scenting. To have the whole pack around you after the death of a pack member is a ritual as old as time.’

He continued. ‘To us it feels like the loss of a limb.’ Laura whined pathetically at that and Stiles wound his arms around her tighter

Stiles nodded. ‘I’m new to all of this, and I’m usually not one for big declarations, but coming back to you guys, felt like coming home, to me.’ He whispered, feeling almost guilty, like he was betraying his dad and Scott by admitting that.

Laura pushed her face deeper into his neck and Derek smiled tiredly at him. ‘You’re pack, Stiles. You’ll always have a home with us.’

They cuddled together on the couch, when Stiles called his dad. They hadn’t planned on anything really, other than to tell the truth, of course.

‘Hey dad!’ Stiles said tired but happy, after his dad had picked up on the first freaking ring.

‘Stiles, I’d very much like to skype with you. See where you are, who’s with you.’

Stiles groaned tiredly before extracting himself from Laura and Derek. ‘Sure thing. I’ll set everything up.’ He agreed easily.

‘So, do you mind telling me who you are with?’ His dad asked.

‘That depends. Are you calling from your work phone?’

‘Yes?’

‘Then I’m afraid I can’t tell you. But you’ll see the moment we establish the Skype connection.’

‘Stiles I’m getting really worried, here.’

‘There’s no need for that. I promise. Just end the call before you open Skype.’

Two minutes later his dad stared at Stiles as if he’d grown an extra head.

‘Laura?’ He asked carefully. 

‘John.’ Laura nodded towards the Sheriff.

‘And is that Derek?’

‘Yes sir.’ Derek smiled or at least tried to.

‘Stiles please tell me you didn’t?’ His dad groaned, his head buried in his hands.

‘Didn’t what?’

‘Didn’t ask for the bite?’ his father looked at him tiredly as if he already knew the answer.  
Laura let her mug clash to the floor, staring at the Sheriff ‘You knew?’ she asked almost accusingly.

‘Of course, I knew, Talia and my wife were good friends for a long time. When Claudia’s dementia got really bad and people started to talk, Talia reached out to me and told me all about the bite, how it could heal my wife. I agreed, but when Talia met Claudia again and assessed her condition, she said the worst-case scenario wasn’t death, but that Claudia couldn’t heal the damage the illness had already done to her.’

He sighed tiredly and looked so defeated that Stiles felt his heart break for his dad. 

‘She said that there was a high chance that Claudia would be stuck in that condition and we both knew we couldn’t risk doing that to her or doing that to Stiles.’

Stiles stared for a moment before he nodded at his father. ‘She would have resented us forever if we had kept her like that, out of pure selfishness.’ 

His father looked absolutely relieved before he nodded. ‘Yeah, she would have.’

Stiles looked down on his hands, when Laura started recounting what had happened that night and how Stiles came to be a werewolf. His father had listened wide eyed and horror struck.

‘You almost died.’ He whispered and looked at his son, like a lifeline. ‘You went through all of that, because I wanted to eat a shitty hamburger in peace, god damnit.’ His father punched the table, fiery eyed and angry at no one but himself, but Stiles quickly cut in.

‘Dad I loved it here. I love you dearly, but Beacon Hills drains me. The people there were driving me crazy, you did good sending me away. I’m happy the way I am now.’

His father stared intently at his son, assessing the truth behind the words he had spoken, before he nodded.

‘That’s why you asked us to live with you, after the fire. Why you told us we’d be safe there.’ Laura muttered absently staring at the Sheriff. 

John nodded tiredly. ‘I didn’t know which ones of my colleagues were in on it, so I couldn’t outright say that I knew about werewolves, but I tried to hint at it. Looking back, I really picked the wrong moment to be subtle.’ 

Laura stared at the Sheriff, ‘The fake papers.’ She muttered, ‘That was you? Wasn’t it?’ 

John nodded. ‘And you put those to good use, didn’t you? It made it easy for me to kill every paper trail you two left behind. Tried my best to shadow you over the years.’ He said grinning sheepishly at them.

Laura’s eyes were watering. ‘You saved our lives.’ She mumbled.

‘And you saved my son’s live.’ John whispered, just as emotional.


	5. if everyone was exactly the same, life would be very boring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you'll enjoy!

They talked for another hour. Derek and Laura explained everything that happened between Peter and the Argents and his father looked at Derek for a moment before he carefully hinted at something Stiles had assumed all along.

Derek had shrunk in on himself while his father questioned him carefully. They didn’t have enough to involve the police. No evidence left outside of a grainy picture of a blonde with bright red lipstick and a dark-haired teen, getting into a SUV, but Stile’s dad promised them that he’d make the Argents regret ever stepping foot back into Beacon Hills.

Derek warned him not to do too much against the family, because he’d draw attention to himself, but his dad just shook his head. 

‘I have a plan on how to go about this.’ He promised. 

‘One that won’t endanger my son or make any of us collateral.’

He was still murmuring about edits and sanctions on manipulated ammunition when they said their goodbyes. 

In the end Stiles wasn’t even grounded. He just had to be back by Monday, which was still three days away and he’d be able to spend that time with Laura and Derek. His dad also tried to give the two the money for the tickets, but they outright refused to take it.

‘It’s a pack expense.’ Laura stated firmly and didn’t let any other arguments count.

They all cuddled down on Laura’s matrass with an abundance of blankets and pillows and slept for what felt like a whole day.

Upon waking up Stiles felt his chest pulsate with the intensity of what he first assumed to be some kind of physical manifestation of pack bounds until he opened his eyes and realized that Laura was just straight up curled up on his chest and Derek had wound half of his torso and his arms around them both, easily doubling the weight that pressed against his chest. 

‘Physical manifestation my ass.’, he grumbled as he broke free from the two of them, to get started on breakfast at like seven o’ clock at night. He was truly living his best live.

When he finally got around to charging his phone, it didn’t take long before it chimed.

Unknown Number -> Stiles [15:02]  
Hey Stiles, this is Danny. I thought it made sense if you had my number. You warned me off of a ginormous creeper after all.

Stiles -> Danny [19:02]  
Sure, anytime!

Danny -> Stiles [19:03]  
:D

Breakfast at night was the best fucking idea ever. The crispy bacon, the hash browns and the fried eggs just breathed new, fatty life into them.

Laura made them sit around the table and talk about everything that had happened, they were all still slightly exhausted and kind of off, so they just watched bad reality TV while lying on top of each other on the couch until they were sleeping again.

The only day they left the house was Saturday and then they didn’t even go out until late afternoon, when Laura drove them to Rhode Island to meet the Alpha and thank her for her help.  
They were all dressed fairly casually, since they’d eat together and run together in foreign territory, it was quickly decided that constricting clothing would be a bad idea.

It was weirdly informal in procedure but ridiculously formal in the way everybody held themselves.

The other pack was interesting in a way, because they had so many members, bitten and not bitten. It was funny to see how others behaved, when they were freshly bitten. Well, funny wasn’t exactly the right word. 

These guys had no chill, absolutely none. The tiniest things sent them in a fit of growling teeth.

Stiles had positioned him slightly behind Laura. Derek stood slightly in front of her on her other side, smiling and pulling up an eyebrow at Stiles choice.

It wasn’t something he could have helped. His wolf didn’t like the tumult. He didn’t care for all this impulsive aggression. He was calm and held himself with an easy confidence, ready to defend at any moment. 

Laura later told him, that his position classically symbolizes the one of a second in a pack, when Stiles had stared at Derek questioningly as if asking if he slighted him in any way, Derek had just smiled and shook his head, ‘I’m the enforcer, always have been. You’re the steady force behind the alpha, I’m the one in front of her smoothing the way for her.’

No one commented on Stiles, which made him incredibly happy. He could see some curious glances, but nothing too forward happened.

When it finally came time to run, he breathed in deeply, looked at Laura questioningly, who nodded, aware of what he was asking, and he let the reins go. 

At first he didn’t feel any different, but then a force so overwhelmingly strong and potent, it almost brought him to his knees, took over his body and before he knew what was going on, he was running through the woods, smelling everything, feeling connected to the land and his pack, he howled and his pack answered and he laughed and his wolf bounced through the woods, happy and untamed, relieved to be able to have this, to feel this connection.

When they left hours later, the Alpha of Rhode Island, extended a standing invitation to them. They’d be able to partake in more runs if they wanted to. 

Laura couldn’t help it, she completely broke etiquette and hugged the elderly woman, who only laughed mildly and returned the gesture.

Sunday was spent with ice scream, watching bad horror flicks about werewolves, on Stiles’ demand, Dirty Dancing, on Laura’s insistent suggestion and Wolverine, because Derek is a huge dork. When it came to the god-awful scene were Patrick Swayze caught Jennifer Grey and lifted her up midair, Laura got up and made Stiles and Derek recreate the dance scene with her and not just in the conventional way. 

They alternated in their ridiculousness. She threw Stiles in the air, Stiles threw her, then Derek threw Stiles and the other way around and finally Derek and Laura did parts of the dance.  
Stiles immediately knew that she had made Derek practice this with her before. It didn’t matter, they were all laughing their asses off, while doing it, and taking pictures and making videos of their adorable idiot pack members.

When they brought him back to the airport that evening, they were less somber. 

‘Now that your dad is in the know, we can totally bend the rules a little bit and fly you in, every once in a while.’ Laura smiled and Derek had to agree. Stiles hugged them for dear life before boarding the plane.

He slept a little on his flight and couldn’t wipe the smile off of his face until after he landed. His dad stood at the gate, just as happy to see him and they went back home talking about everything. 

When Stiles showed him the pictures of him and the pack from his first trip and even let him see their idiot home videos. The sequence where Laura threw him in the air, had his dad wiping tears from his eyes with laughter.

‘So, what’s the plan?’ Stiles couldn’t help but ask.

‘You don’t have to worry about that. Let me handle it.’ His dad smiled. ‘Just do me a favor and try not to get involved with the Argent girl.’

‘I mean we’re going to the same school.’ Stiles groaned. 

‘Yeah well, when I say, ‘don’t get involved’ I mean ‘don’t have sex’, I should have been clearer.’ His father allowed, while Stiles gaped at him.

‘Small city. People talk.’ Was all his father said and Stiles was beyond grateful that he didn’t elaborate on it.

-

 

Going back to school on Monday was alright. Stiles hadn’t expected any problems, maybe he was naive, but he had trusted Danny and Jackson to keep his secret and they did.

Scott even told him he was happy that Stiles was feeling better. 

Everything was well, until Lydia called them over during lunch. Scott, who couldn’t believe that this was finally happening, still stopped himself from running blindly into what could potentially be his social ascent from dork to jock and stared at Stiles, obviously waiting to get the go ahead. 

And wasn’t that just freaking adorable? 

His friend, who didn’t want anything more than to sit at that table with that brunette, was waiting for him to decide and wouldn’t go through with it, if Stiles didn’t want to do it, too. 

That just gave him a little heart-boner. 

So, Stiles did the stupid thing and nodded and let Scott guide them to the table, just to be stared at by Lydia, who was obviously on a mission.

However, Stiles wasn’t about to find out what exactly that mission was, so he started asking Danny about his new boyfriend, Thomas, immediately after he sat down.

Scott was next to him and tried everything, he could think of, to get Allison to talk to him.

Stiles didn’t know what Lydia wanted with them, but he could guess that all of this had something to do with Jackson, so he treated carefully.

He wasn’t sure if she tried to make Jackson jealous, by talking to Stiles or showing up Stiles by throwing herself at Jackson in front of him, but since neither him nor Scott were paying her any attention, she changed her plan of action.

‘So, Stiles are you going to come bowling with us tonight? We could make it a double date. You and Allison and me and Jackson?’ She asked. 

It was clever, he had to give her that. Set her boyfriend’s distraction up with someone she had under control and everyone’s happy or something like that.

Stiles just stared at her for a moment, baffled by her absolute ignorance of Scott’s presence, before answering ‘Can’t. I already have plans with Scott.’ 

Lydia’s fake smile seemed to teether around the edges as she allowed, ‘You could bring him with you.’ 

On Stiles’ face was the beginning of his signature shit eating grin and Scott already knew what was coming. 

‘I don’t know I’d have to ask him first.’ He said, while doing absolutely nothing to indicate that he’d actually ask, his friend, who was sitting right next to him, to come to said event. 

Scott buried his face in his hands and groaned out ‘Stiles.’, while Stiles leaned back in his chair. 

‘What?’ Stiles asked innocently.

Scott just shook his head, but when he pulled his hands away you could see that he was trying to hide a grin.

‘So how about video games, junk food and horror movies tonight, Scottie? You up for that?’

‘Stiles.’ Scott groaned again, this time smiling openly.

‘What she can be rude, but I can’t?’ Stiles asked pulling up an eyebrow at his best friend, who was now watching Lydia’s face change color with something akin to concern, while the rest of the table had fallen into shocked silence.

‘We’re just going to go.’ Scott finally decided and pulled Stiles up with him and towards the exit of the cafeteria.

Outside Scott burst into loud laughter. ‘That was sick dude. Oh my god. Did you see her face?’

Stiles smiled. ‘Do you actually want to go to that bowling thing?’

Scott stared at him for a moment. ‘You’d really go, if I wanted to, wouldn’t you?’

‘Sure. Why not?’ Stiles shrugged.

‘Because you hate these people.’ Scott said indignantly.

‘Yeah, some of them’ Stiles nodded, ‘But you’re more important.’ Stiles finished, and then he had an armful of Scott in his arms.

‘So, what do you want to do?’ he asked after Scott let him go.

‘Movie night and junk food sounds great, actually.’ Scott smiled his best puppy smile at him.

-

Turns out Allison wasn’t too happy with Lydia using her and she made a point out of telling Stiles and Scott all about it, when she met them in front of their next class together.

Scott, who had been enamored with the girl before, just nodded along, because who was she kidding, if she truly was her own person and didn’t let herself get dragged into this kind of thing, she would have spoken up, when it happened and not half an hour later, where Lydia couldn’t hear her.

So, they just nodded along and let Allison vent, because apparently, that was what Stiles was all about lately, pretending to care. In his defense, Scott did most of the talking and nodding and Stiles just stood by.

After school he checked his phone to see that he’d gotten a message from Danny.

Danny -> Stiles [15:22]  
Jesus, I knew you had balls, but what just happened? Do you really not want to come with btw? It’s not a double date thing or whatever Lydia tried to imply and Scott’s more than welcome.

Stiles -> Danny [15:35]  
She was being rude to my best friend right in front of me. I don’t condone that kind of shit and we’re good. We’re really doing a movie night with junk food and all that good stuff. Have fun!

And that was that. Danny and he weren’t close enough for Stiles to invite him to bro time, yet and he didn’t want to risk the rest of the gang tagging along.

 

Later that night he and Scott sat in his living room, eating Mexican food and watching some B rated horror flick, that had a lot more tits than actual gore.

‘I really think you and Kira would get along great.’ Stiles said while watching his friend from the corner of his eyes.

‘Stop trying to set me up with girls you slept with.’ 

Stiles groaned. ‘It’s the summer camp. You don’t just make friends there. I don’t know why that is.’ 

‘I wish my mom had signed me up.’

‘She didn’t because she knew. She gave me condoms before I went the last three times.’ 

Stiles cracked up, while trying to catch the popcorn Scott was throwing at him with his mouth. 

‘Fuck my life. Me and Kira could have been great’ Scott groaned. 

Stiles frowned at his friend, ‘You know she’s not like ruined, just because we slept together right?’

Scott looked completely shocked at him. ‘Jesus, what do you take me for? Of course, she isn’t. I just don’t think you’d be happy if we really were to get together and you know… Wouldn’t it be weird for you?’

‘100% not weirded out by that. Kira is great, but I only view her as a friend. Seriously.’ He smiled earnestly at him. 

‘I mean if she’s up for getting to know me, I’d love to get to know her.’ Scott, scratched the back of his head, still watching Stiles.

Stiles immediately wrote Kira, who in turn had heard him talk about his friend enough times that she was up for it.

He quickly gave Scott her number and let the two of them work something out. After ten minutes Scott called her and they were talking, since it was still early, they tried to meet up, with Stiles, which confused him a little, but he was down, if it made his friends happy.

‘So, we’ll meet in twenty by the bowling alley?’ Scott asked shyly, while Stiles groaned in the background.

When Scott hang up, he stared at Stiles for a moment. ‘Shit I didn’t think—’ 

‘Doesn’t matter.’ Stiles reassured him. 

‘Is Kira coming alone?’

‘Na, she’s bringing Malia, said you’d know her?’

Stiles pained expression quickly turned into a full-on smile. ‘Hell yeah, I know her. It’s been years but Malia used to be my partner in crime at camp, and I don’t mean that in a weird sexual way. We met before that stuff started.’ Belatedly he added. ‘You’ll know when you see us together.’

Then he scratched the back of his head.  
‘I’m just going to text Danny. Tell him we’re coming.”

Stiles -> Danny [20:40]  
Hey Danny, there’s been a slight change of plans. We’re coming to the bowling alley, Scott has a date, so don’t be mad if we’re doing our own thing. Got to impress the lady am I right? :D

Danny -> Stiles [20:50]  
That’s alright, have fun and don’t be a stranger! :P

‘We’re good to go!’ Stiles called up to where Scott was hurriedly trying to do something with his hair, gave up, came back down looking wilder than before, but still decently presentable so Stiles gave them the go ahead.

The bowling alley was brimming with people, so they got the lane right next to Lydia’s and Jackson’s group. 

They seemed to have roped in a few rampant Lacrosse players in and had some heated debates over who had the best technique. Jackson seemed to be particularly angry, when Stiles and his friends made themselves comfortable next to them.

Scott and Kira were animatedly talking, while Stiles and Malia both had the same aura of ‘like-I-give-a-fuck’, which also made quite the impression.

When they initially arrived, they said their hellos and then went on to discuss the stakes.

And because the jocks were nothing if not competitive, they stopped to look at what the group of idiots next to them were doing and what they saw made no sense at all.

They started off by throwing the bowling ball, then there was the classic through your legs shot, followed by the through your legs from behind shot, followed by the kick-it-like-it’s-a-football-Stilinski-special and it wasn’t getting better. 

It wasn’t long before a confused Jock asked Stiles what the hell was going on.

‘We have our own rating system’, Stiles explained to the other group, still grinning wickedly and slightly flushed from the one-armed handstand shove. 

‘Scott and I have played like this since forever. You do a ridiculous shot and everyone else has to recreate it, if they do it well, they get extra points, you also get points for creativity, for example if you pull of an especially stupid move. In the end everything gets added up and the winner gets to slide down the lane on their socks.’ 

He laughed as Scott butted in, ‘We seldom make it that far, because of getting kicked out halfway through.’ 

Stiles nodded. ‘I guess you could say we’re too liberal in our expression of the sport.’ 

He snickered as Malia pulled him towards her. ‘I’m going to incorporate you into my move.’ She told him earnestly. 

Stiles laughed. ‘What do I do?’ 

‘You need to slide me down the lane.’ 

Stiles eyes twinkled with barely contained amusement. ‘Can’t wait.’

Now every heated discussion about who made what move the best stopped as they stared in disbelief at Stiles and Malia. 

Malia was sat cross-legged, her arms with the bowling ball to her chest, as Stiles threw his hoodie on the lane so Malia’s jeans wouldn’t slide directly on the hardwood floor. 

Then he made to stand over her and started to swing her tense form, back and forth until he got a decent momentum, Scott already laughing his ass off behind them. 

There wasn’t a sound in the whole goddamn hall, when he finally let go and a squealing Malia slid down three quarters of the lane on his hoodie before letting go of the bowling ball, that promptly took out all bowling pins.

There was a pause and then most of the bowling alley erupted in cheers. 

Of course, Stiles, Scott and Kira were the loudest, they behaved as if she’d broken some kind of record, when she ran back towards them letting Stiles’ hoodie fly behind her like a flag.

Weirdly enough they weren’t asked to leave after that, but it wasn’t the last bit of ridiculousness Stiles and Malia got up to, while Scott repeatedly yelled ‘She’s an enabler! She’s a freaking enabler!’ and then finally, after one particular stupid stunt, where Malia cheered on Stiles who at this point might as well have played shot put, they were asked to leave. 

By a laughing employee.

Even though none of them had ever thought much of the idiots on the lane next to them, Jackson and his friends still felt like they were missing out on something. 

Well, at least they had a decent time and they weren’t kicked out after only half an hour, which was counted as a win. Well Jackson hadn’t as much of a decent time, he’d been distracted a lot, which earned him heated glares from Lydia, especially when they lost against Allison and some guy from the swim team.

-

When Malia and Kira went back home with them, they spent the rest of the night watching horror flicks. 

Scott and Kira were hitting it off big time and since Stiles hadn’t met Malia since summer camp four years ago, so they caught up a little. Trying to give their awkward friend some alone time. Stiles was surprised to learn that Malia was still together with her girlfriend from camp, Erica, but it also made him happy to hear her share her plans for the future so confidently.

Later that night he drove Kira and Malia back to their car and Scott even got a goodnight kiss.

Stiles smiled all the way home, while Scott went on a tangent about how he was incredibly lucky that he met Kira and god, Stiles was the best for introducing them.

When Scott crashed in his bed later that night, he had to restrain the cuddling, but ultimately gave up on it. Scott would shove him away if he didn’t like it anyway.

‘Stiles.’

‘Hn.’

‘Stiles?’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you awake?’

‘Almost.’

‘Do you mind letting me go?’

Stiles let go of his friend immediately. ‘Sorry.’

‘No problem, dude. You’re a cuddler, I know that.’

‘Hmm.’ And he was asleep again.

‘Stiles?’

‘Yes.’ He murmured what felt like seconds later.

‘Someone named Laura is calling you.’

He immediately sat up in his bed and went for the phone.  
‘I’m awake.’

There was chuckling on the other end. ‘I can hear that.’

‘Super incredibly awake.’

‘Sure, let’s go with that.’

‘Great.’

‘So, I talked to your dad.’

‘Cool.’

‘And he gave us the go ahead for the summer and one weekend a month.’

Stiles breath caught for a moment.  
‘That’s brilliant.’

Derek called in the background. ‘Is that Stiles?’

‘Yes, I was just telling him about the weekends and the summer.’

‘Great, great. Listen Stiles, where do I take May for our third date?’

‘Depends, do you want to sleep with her?’

‘No, I don’t think we’re ready for that.’

‘Okay, take her to the zoo or to the park for a pick nick. Something that screams ‘we’re doing a fun activity, no pressure’ would be best.’

‘That’s actually a good idea.’

‘I know.’

‘Stiles.’ Laura called in the background.

‘Dave and I totally did it.’

He laughed. ‘Okay.’

‘He’s super attentive.’

‘I’m glad.’ Stiles snorted.

‘Oh, don’t be an ass about it.’

‘No please tell me more about your sex life, that now involves my cousin.’

Scott chocked somewhere in the room.  
‘Oh, is someone there?’ Laura crowed.

‘Yeah, Scott.’

‘Put me on speaker.’

Stiles did it, against his better judgement. ‘Hey Scott! This is Laura!’

‘Hey Laura?’ Scott asked unsure.

‘Gosh you even sound cute.’

‘Laura be cool. If we embarrass him in front of his friends he won’t answer again, when he’s with them.’

‘Don’t be such a party pooper.’

Stiles laughed. ‘Yeah Derek, don’t be such a party pooper.’

‘Does he know about Abercromb—’

‘Sorry guys, gotta go.’

And he hung up on them.

Scott stared at him for a moment ‘Abercrombie?’, he finally asked. ‘She doesn’t mean Jackson, does she?’ 

‘No, she meant another dude that looked a lot like an Abercrombie model, that I had sex with while I was in New York.’

‘How was it?’ Scott asked, because apparently, he had zero fucks left to give.

‘Kind of intense. He bottomed and I was in charge and it felt kind of cool. Because he wasn’t weak or anything. He let me take control.’

‘Doesn’t that put a lot of pressure on you?’

‘Not really, I was a bit drunk and I knew the basics of what was going on and when it comes down to it, sex is sex. No matter with whom. So, being in charge doesn’t really freak me out anymore.’ Stiles shrugged.

‘You’ve always been weirdly confident about this stuff.’ Scott admitted. ‘I need some of that like-I-give-a-fuck-attitude.’ He told him so earnestly that Stiles laughed.

‘Come on. Let’s make breakfast.’


	6. we all need a little push sometimes. not a shove, not a friend that explains to us how the world works, just a friendly nudge, a reminder that there are people who care and look out for us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *SURPRISE*
> 
> Extra chapter, because it took me so long to update.
> 
> This one just made me happy. I don't see Lydia as someone who would be set on ruining Jackson. I think she'd try everything to keep him by her side, but if he chooses to leave anyway, she would let go. Especially if he's still willing to help her keep her facade up.

After another healthy-ish breakfast, Stiles brought Scott home and went on a run. Saturday night was a full moon, which sucked, but Stiles already knew how to handle them and since his dad was now in on it, he did his best to help out.

He laid down next to him, talked to him, brought him fresh hot water bottles, let him skype with Derek and Laura.

It all worked out and they found a rhythm. 

-

Monday was delightfully boring. It’s a good exception to Stiles usual drama. He exchanged a few texts with Laura and Derek and even talked to Jackson and Danny, who were asking him if he’d been on drugs the night before, which he denied, laughing loudly. He couldn’t even get high anymore for all he knew. Maybe he should hit up Laura on that one.

That day started what would later be referred to as the ‘calm before the storm’.

By the end of the day, Jackson had already hinted multiple times that he’d show up later, which Stiles didn’t comment on. 

The sex was good, great even. Jackson didn’t even let him get a word in before he shoved him, ok Stiles let him, in the entrance hall, pushed him against the wall and kissed him deeply.

They struggled for dominance the whole way up and when they finally ended up back in his room, there were already bruises blooming on Jackson’s hips.

‘Shit sorry.’

Stiles murmured against his neck. 

‘Don’t fucking stop. Feels great.’ Jackson ground out.

There weren’t many visuals as fucking nice as Jackson shaking apart, clutching at his shoulders, head thrown back, with Stiles’ dick still deeply buried in him, whispering his name like a prayer.

However, this time the other man stayed, after they were done. He looked around the room curiously and his gaze finally ended on the pin board that held a lot of the pictures he had with Laura and Derek, his cousins, their time in New York and some of Scott and his childhood pictures.

‘Who is she?’ He finally asked, staring at a photograph of Laura who was asleep on top of Stiles chest, her face pressed into the crook of his neck, bundled up in PJs with big fluffy socks and his hoodie securely wrapped around her. Stiles was also asleep in the picture, with his arms curled protectively around her.

Stiles smiled when he saw that picture. ‘My friend.’ He finally said. Pack, his wolf growled, and he felt the insistent nudge of the pack bonds beneath his heart.

‘You’re very close.’ Jackson commented. 

‘We are. Her brother took that picture. I think it was taken on the weekend I spent in New York, the one you’ve driven me to the airport for.’ Jackson nodded. 

‘New York, huh?’

‘Hmm.’

‘I can’t wait to get out of this town, either.’ Jackson finally admitted.

Stiles mustered him. ‘You seem to be doing well for yourself here.’ 

Jackson looked at him almost accusingly. ‘I have a girlfriend I literally can’t get it up for. A family that doesn’t care for me, when I’m not the best and a shit load of issues concerning the whole adoption thing.’

Stiles stared at him. ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but I never quite understood that part. I mean your family died. It wasn’t like they gave you away because they didn’t want you, what’s so bad about being adopted?’

Jackson stared at him. ‘I guess you can’t really understand what it’s like without knowing how my parents treat me.’ He shrugged.

‘Okay.’ Stiles accepted easily, because what was he going to do, argue?

Jackson stared at him again. As if he never quite did what he expected of him. ‘Lydia is trying to get me to sleep with her.’

‘That’s messed up.’ Stiles said, because it was. 

‘You know, I thought it would bother you more.’ Jackson finally said.

‘What?’

‘That I’m in a relationship.’ Jackson said tiredly.

‘Well we’re casual. If you wanted this to be serious, it would be a different issue.’ Stiles shrugged.

‘But you’d be open to that?’ Jackson asked, eyebrows pulled up.

Stiles stared at him intently. ‘I don’t know Jackson. I guess it depends.’

‘On what?’ He stared at Stiles as if he tried to read his thoughts.

‘How we feel about each other.’ He shrugged again.

‘I’m fine with this. Having great sex isn’t exactly a hardship for me, you know? But I’m not in the business of doing relationships half-heartedly. So as long as you don’t know what you want, I won’t think or talk about hypotheticals. If you decide to give this a shot and I’m not pursuing someone else by that time, we could see where it goes?’ He shrugged.

‘You never do what I expect you to.’ Jackson finally said.

‘What did you expect me to say?’

‘No. I expected you to say ‘no’ right off the bat.’

Stiles stared at him. ‘Does Danny know about us?’

Jackson bristled at that. ‘Not really. He knows that I like you. He doesn’t know about us doing stuff…’

‘Because he keeps flirting with me.’ Stiles said, shrugging his shoulders.

‘He just got together with Thomas.’ Jackson argued.

‘Believe me, when I tell you I know when someone flirts with me.’ Stiles just said.

‘So, what are you going to do about it?’

‘Don’t know, yet. Just thought it would be weird for him to actively go after me when he knows we’re banging.’ He shrugs.

‘Have you ever… with someone else?’ Jackson asked carefully.

Stiles eyebrows shot up. ‘I thought everyone knew about summer camp.’ He said.

‘Well, yeah, I was just wondering if something happened in New York.’ Jackson shrugged.  
‘Summer camp was just petting, wasn’t it?’

‘No, it really wasn’t.’ Stiles shook his head. ‘I had sex in New York, just not with a guy. Well except for one messy blow job, but nothing more than that.’

Jackson stared at him, before he laughed. ‘Oh, well, that’s nothing then.’ He said shaking his head.

‘Oh, come off it, you can’t tell me you’ve never done anything with someone else.’

‘I guess if you count Lydia trying to suck off my limp dick, then yeah, I scored big time.’

‘Not even with Danny?’

‘Danny isn’t what I—’ Jackson seemed to struggle with finding the words. ‘Danny is not my type.’

They were interrupted by his phone ringing. ‘I have to take that.’ Stiles reached out to his phone and answered.

‘Hello?’

‘Stiles?’

‘Derek?’

‘This is your daily check-up, Laura’s off on a date with Dave, so she made me do it instead.’

‘This is the worst.’

‘Did you work out today?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you eat healthy-ish.’

‘I did.’

‘Are you depressed in any way, shape or form?’

Stiles snorted. ‘I am depressed by this phone call, but other than that...’

Derek laughed loudly. ‘Don’t be an ass about it. Did you fuck Abercrombie again?’

‘That’s not on the list.’ Stiles said, smiling knowingly.

‘It’s Laura, so you bet your ass, she added it to the list.’

‘No comment.’

‘You totally did.’ Derek said gleefully. 

‘Oh, fuck off.’ Stiles said and hung up.

Stiles stared at his phone and shook his head. 

‘Who is Derek?’

‘I already told you twenty questions doesn’t work that way.’ Stiles said with a shrug.

‘Oh, come off it, we’re just talking.’

Stiles pulled up an eyebrow at him. ‘And since when are we doing that?’ He asked, because he was still kind of an asshole.

‘I’d say since you fucked me up the ass, but who knows?’

And since when was Jackson this crude? 

Stiles sighed. ‘What was the question again?’

The way Jackson looked at him told him exactly how much of a shit he was being.  
‘Who’s Derek?’

‘The brother of Laura.’ Stiles answered with a shrug.

‘My turn, who was the first guy that made you question your sexuality?’

‘You.’ Jackson said. ‘But there was no question about it.’

‘You hated me.’

‘Yeah well, you ruined my life.’

Stiles laughed. ‘You’re giving me too much credit.’

Jackson stared at him for a moment. ‘I’m really not.’

Stiles shrugged again. ‘Your turn.’

‘How many people did you have sex with?’

‘Define sex?’

‘Not making out or kissing, obviously. I mean hand jobs, oral, sex sex. Doesn’t matter.’

Stiles stared at him for a second.  
‘Thirteen.’

Jackson’s eyes widened before he nodded, as if he expected that. 

‘Why are you with Lydia?’

Jackson shook his head. ‘I wanted to try and be normal, I guess. After I realized it wasn’t going to work, she already knew too much, and I didn’t trust her not to tell.’

‘What would she tell them?’

‘That I can’t get it up for her? That I’m gay? That I almost cried the first time I tried to have sex her and never wanted to again?’ Jackson said and damn since when were they this open with each other?

‘Okay.’ Stiles said. ‘I can see why you wouldn’t want people to know about that, but it would make her look bad too, wouldn’t it? Talking shit about her ex like that.’

‘Yeah, sure, for a moment, and then she’d bounce back.’

‘I think wasting your entire high school time pretending to be something you aren’t sounds a whole lot worse.’ He shrugged.

‘You would say that.’ Jackson laughed.

‘And what’s that supposed to mean? I’m not popular.’

‘Because you don’t want to be.’

Stiles stared at him. ‘It’s most definitely because everyone here thinks I’m a hyperactive spazz.’

‘No one’s thought that since middle school.’

‘Oh really?’

‘Yeah. If you gave a shit, you’d know.’

‘I’d rather not. Being popular looks really fucking oppressive, right now.’ Stiles gestured to Jackson’s everything as he said that.  
‘Besides I’m not losing the one real friendship I have in this town for a bunch of superficial connections that make me look good.’ 

He laughed. ‘Who the fuck would I do that for anyway?’

Jackson just stared at him for a moment and then he lost it. Started laughing in a way that striked Stiles as slightly psychotic. 

‘Who the fuck would you do that for anyway?’ He repeated, before laughing that unhinged laugh again.

‘Who am I pandering to? Is the real question. Why am I doing it, anyway? I hate this town, I think my parents couldn’t care less and honestly besides Danny and you there isn’t even anyone here that I’d want to stay in contact with, if I left tomorrow.’

He snorted. ‘And you don’t even care about that stuff. Couldn’t care less about me being the Lacrosse captain. Knowing you, you’d probably think it makes it worse, as if me being the way I am wasn’t cliché enough.’ 

Stiles wasn’t sure how to handle that kind of intensity. ‘I think we should call Danny.’ He finally said.

‘What? Why?’

‘You seem a little… upset and I’m not sure I can do anything to help.’

Jackson stared at him.  
‘But then he’ll know.’

Stiles stared at him in disbelief. ‘Wait, don’t tell me you haven’t told him, because of me?’

Jackson stared at him blankly. ‘You said our arrangement depended on me being less obvious.’

Stiles palmed his face. ‘I’m an idiot.’

‘No surprise there.’ Jackson said tiredly and dodged the pillow that was sailing towards his head.

‘I’m texting Danny. You should talk this out with a friend.’

 

Stiles -> Danny [18:57]  
Hey, can you come over? Jackson’s having a minor crisis and he could use a friend.

Danny-> Stiles [18:57]  
What happened?

Stiles -> Danny [18:58]  
Nothing bad. He’s fine. Just a little upset.

Danny-> Stiles [18:58]  
Jackson doesn’t get upset. He gets furious. I’ll be there in ten.

Stiles -> Danny [18:59]  
Cool.

‘He’ll be here in ten.’ Stiles announced, while pilfering through his shirts, deciding on a dark Henley from Derek.

‘He’ll know, though.’

‘He won’t know that you like to bottom, if you don’t explicitly tell him all about it. We could have been petting or exchanging blow jobs or whatever.’ Stiles said rolling his eyes.

‘Right.’ Jackson nodded. ‘But I meant the gay thing.’

‘Oh.’ Stiles paused for a second. ‘Yeah. He’ll know that.’ He admitted.

While Stiles went through his stuff, he saw one of his old joints. The ones that Scott could smoke too, because of their relaxing properties.

Stiles -> Laura [19:01]  
Can I get high off of weed?

Laura -> Stiles [19:02]  
Yes, kind of. It’s the only thing that mildly affects werewolves. The chemical stuff doesn’t work on us. If you have weed bring some with you, next time. It’ll be fun.

Stiles -> Laura [19:02]  
If I even attempt to smuggle weed through customs, my dad will honest to god, denounce me as his son.

Laura -> Stiles [19:03]  
I forgot about that. Lol. Sorry. We’ll get some in NY.

Stiles -> Laura [19:03]  
:D

Stiles smiled, put his phone away and sat down next to Jackson against the wall. Before the other boy could question him, he’d already lit the joint and took a long pull from it, before he handed it over to Jackson.

‘Sexual deviant and drug addict? You’re ticking all the rebellious teenage boxes, aren’t you?’

‘Seems like we’re all clichés here.’ Stiles smiled at him and Jackson stared at his mouth, before leaning in for another kiss.  
This one was long and slow, gentle almost. The ringing of the doorbell interrupted them.

Danny stared from Stiles to Jackson and took a pull from the joint again. ‘Come again?’

‘I’m gay.’ Jackson said again, patiently while Stiles snickered next to him.

‘I knew it.’ Danny finally said, before he handed the joint over to Stiles again.

‘So, you and him.’ He gestured to Stiles.

‘Well yeah.’ Jackson said, while Stiles shook his head. 

‘It’s just sex.’

They looked at each other. 

‘I told you I’m unavailable for emotional crap, like ‘what ifs’, as long as you’re in a relationship, dude.’ Stiles said shrugging.

‘Harsh but fair.’ Danny said nodding towards Stiles.

‘The sex is amazing, Danny.’ Jackson laughed, while taking another pull.

‘Sure.’ Danny said blushing. 

‘Like you have no idea how amazing.’ Jackson said again, while Stiles snorted again.

‘I think he has some idea.’ Stiles finally said, because Danny looked miserable.

‘No, he really doesn’t. What he told me was nothing like—’

‘Okay. Jackson, shut up! I’m happy you like sex, but please shut up.’ Danny finally said, ears burning.

‘So, Jackson wants to break up with Lydia but he’s afraid she’ll tell the whole school about embarrassing sex stuff and him being gay.’ Stiles summed up the problem.

‘It’s not embarrassing. I’m just not that into her.’ Jackson said. 

‘Do you think I’m bad at it?’ He asked Stiles honestly after a moment, uncharacteristically insecure.

Stiles only blinked at him for a moment before he laughed. ‘Fuck, no.’

Jackson smirked at him.

‘Lydia wouldn’t out Jackson. She’s a bitch, but she wouldn’t do that to him.’ Danny finally said.

‘Oh, she totally would. She told me that like three times already.’ Jackson said shrugging.

‘Well that’s different, but if she really does it, she loses my friendship immediately. You don’t out someone else.’

Stiles phone went off.

‘Hey!’ Stiles said slowly, laughing a little.

‘You’re totally high, aren’t you?’ Derek asked.

‘That depends.’

‘On what?’

‘Why are you asking?’

Derek burst out in laughter. ‘Stiles. I’m not going to give you shit for it. I just wanted to check in on you.’

‘I’m fine. Really super extra fine.’

‘Is someone with you?’

‘Yeah. Abercrombie and Danny.’

Jackson burst out laughing next to him. ‘I’m Abercrombie?’

‘Hmm.’ He hummed grinning at Jackson.

‘Stiles?’ Derek asked.

‘Yes.’

‘You need to be careful with them.’ Translation: Control your furry instincts.

‘I will.’

‘Okay talk to you later, bye.’

‘Bye.’

 

‘Was that Derek again?’ Jackson asked.

‘Yeah. He knew I was going to get high and checked up on me. Weed sometimes doesn’t go well with my ADHD.’

‘Fuck. You need to start telling us this stuff’ Danny said exasperated.

‘You should have said something. One of us would have laid off of it.’ Jackson said and somehow managed to sound annoyed and worried.

‘Guys I’m good, but you two earned yourself ten points to Hufflepuff each, for excessive mothering.’

‘Oh, fuck off. I’m not a Hufflepuff.’ Jackson said laughing.

‘You totally are.’ Stiles was unapologetic about a lot of things, insulting other people by putting them in Hogwarts houses was one of them.

‘Well you’re a Slytherin if I ever saw one.’ Danny grumbled.

‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’

‘You would.’ Jackson said.

Another hour later and they had cleared out most of the junk food in the kitchen and talked to Jackson about his shitty life choices at length.

‘Why is being popular even important?’ Stiles asked. ‘It’s not like you’ll hold contact with like eighty percent of these people after you’re done with school.’

Danny shrugged. ‘Feels good, I guess. To know that your phone is full of people you can talk to, even if it’s just superficial.’

Stiles nodded, he didn’t really understand, because his phone was full of contacts too. Probably not as many as Danny’s but at least they weren’t superficial ones. Granted they weren’t popular either, but he didn’t care. Not everyone was willing to invest in connections like that, he guessed. 

‘Anyway. I think you really should break up with Lydia.’ Danny said and Jackson nodded. ‘

The longer we stay together the bigger a deal it’s going to be.’

Stiles shrugged. He had thought about this too much and wanted this topic to be over, so he decided to play devil’s advocate.

‘Do what you’re comfortable with. I mean high school is only what? Like one more year? That’s manageable. If this stuff matters this much to you, you shouldn’t make yourself even more miserable by giving up on it, now that you almost made it.’ He evaded the pillow Danny threw at him.

‘What? Just because I don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it can’t work for him?’ Stiles asked, shoving some more crisps in his mouth.

‘One more year.’ Jackson breathed. ‘One more year of this shit.’ He shook his head.  
‘I really don’t think I can do that.’

‘So, don’t.’ Stiles said, unimpressed by the melodramatic scene before him.  
‘It’s really simple. Just do what makes you happy and if that’s a lost cause, go with what makes you the least miserable.’

‘Sound advice.’ Danny proclaimed, when his phone alert went off. ‘Shoot. I have a date with Thomas in half an hour and I still need to change.’ He looked down on himself. Danny was still in his work out gear.

‘Take whatever you want.’ Stiles said and kicked open his closet door with his right foot. Derek and Laura’s things were stored away under his bed so there was no possibility of a mix up.

‘If you get jizz on it keep it. Don’t wash it and give it back. Just keep it.’ He said laughing at how red Danny turned.

‘You’re such an ass.’ He muttered while going through Stiles stuff.

‘Who cares?’ Stiles asked laughing.

‘Do you mind driving me? I still feel a little high, I’ll get my car later.’ Danny said apologetic. 

‘No big deal. Just text me and I’ll pick you up.’ Stiles shrugged. These guys had driven him to the airport at ass a clock in the morning. This wasn’t a huge deal.

‘That’s really—’ Danny stared at him. ‘Thank you.’

‘After we’re done with dropping Danny off, can you drive me to Lydia’s?’ Jackson asked.

‘Are you still high?’

Jackson thought about that for a moment. ‘Maybe a little, but I think if I’m really going to do it, I’ll need to be.’ 

He didn’t lie about that, so Stiles just nodded. ‘Okay.’ 

‘And wait for me. In the car. I’ll probably need celebratory sex afterwards.’ Jackson said.

‘I’ll wait for you.’ Stiles agreed easily, while Danny stared from one to the other.

‘How do I look?’ He finally asked the both of them.

‘Well enough.’ Jackson answered for the both of them. Danny looked really nice in Stiles clothes. Stiles gave him a thumbs up, as his wolf purred inside him, obviously liking how everyone around him was covered in his scent. One way or another.

‘So, I’m driving one of you to a hot date and the other to a traumatic breakup. Sounds great.’ Stiles snorted as he picked up his keys.

-

 

Waiting in front of Lydia Martins house was boring as hell, so he texted Laura.

Stiles -> Laura [21:22]  
Remember Abercrombie? I just drove him to his girlfriend’s house. He’s breaking up with her right now.

Laura -> Stiles [21:25]  
That seems awkward.

Stiles -> Laura [21:25]  
You have no idea.

Laura -> Stiles [21:26]  
So, you and him, huh?

Stiles -> Laura [21:26]  
I don’t know, yet.

Laura -> Stiles [21:27]  
But he’s breaking up with her?

Stiles -> Laura [21:28]  
Yes, at least I think that’s what’s happening in there. Either way, it doesn’t really matter to me.

Laura -> Stiles [21:28]  
Oh? Of course not, that’s why you’ve driven him there and are now waiting for him to be done.

Stiles -> Laura [21:28]  
Obviously. :P

Laura -> Stiles [21:29]  
Derek says, to stop being an idiot.

Harsh knocking on his window pulled him out of his thoughts. When he looked up, he saw a furious Lydia and an equally pissed Jackson.

He let the window down. ‘What?’ He asked irritated with her rough treatment of his car.

‘You couldn’t have waited?’ She asked.

‘Waited?’ He pulled up an eyebrow.

‘There’s still prom. It’s only a few weeks away!’ She explained annoyed.

Stiles stared at her for a moment, before he snorted amused. ‘So? Go to prom together, what’s the big idea?’ He asked confused.

‘What?’ Jackson asked.

‘Being popular is obviously important to both of you. Go to prom together, as friends or whatever. Who cares? Just don’t stay in a relationship that makes you unhappy.’ He shrugged and Lydia blinked at him. 

‘I hadn’t thought about it that way.’

Jackson nodded. ‘I’d do it. If it’s something that’s important to you.’ He finally said and Lydia nodded.

‘It is. Listen, I’m sorry—’ Lydia began.

Stiles stared at the scene that was starting to look dangerously like a heart to heart and slowly wound the window back up, much to the annoyance of Lydia who flipped him off, while loudly screaming ‘Your boyfriend is an asshole!’ at Jackson.

Stiles smiled in his car and continued texting with Laura. The rest of the day was surprisingly chill. There was no celebratory sex, instead he drove Jackson back to his place and they played video games for a bit, before they both went to pick up Danny, who manhandled Jackson out of the car, when they arrived at Danny’s place. Apparently, he needed all the info’s, yesterday. It was fun. At least as much fun as a day like that could have been.

The next few days at school were weird. Jackson and Danny continued to hang around him and Scott, much to Scott’s confusion. 

-

 

‘So, what’s going on?’ Scott finally broke his brooding silence one afternoon, later that week. 

‘I slept with Jackson and I think we’re closing in on relationship territory.’

Scott took a moment to work through that. ‘Oh. That’s not what I expected.’

‘Yeah.’ Stiles nodded.

‘So, is that something you want with Jackson?’

‘I think it is. I haven’t even gone out clubbing once these past two months.’

‘But you’re leaving for New York in a few days.’ Scott said.

‘Hmm.’ Stiles hummed.

‘So, are you going to go out when you’re there?’

‘Probably.’

‘Will you take someone home with you?’

‘No.’ He didn’t feel like explaining that he didn’t do that anyway. He either went home with them or they did it in a car.

‘Maybe talk to Jackson about it?’

‘Seems excessive.’ 

‘Well, how long have you been having sex with him?’

‘A few months.’ Stiles shrugged. 

Scott blinked at him. ‘That’s why he stared all the time.’

‘Yup.’ 

‘I thought that he was planning your murder.’

‘Na, that’s not his angry face.’ Stiles smiled lewdly.

‘Ew.’ Scott groaned. ‘I could have lived my whole life without knowing that about him.’

‘Shit, I didn’t mean to tell you that.’ Stiles immediately backpaddled.

‘Stiles.’

‘I know.’

‘No, you really don’t.’ Scott groaned.

‘What?’ He asked exasperated.

‘I think he really likes you.’

‘Okay?’ 

‘Don’t be an ass about it.’

‘I can’t really rush myself. I think we have a chance. But I don’t see the point in committing sooner rather than later.’

‘That’s a good way to phrase it. Now off you go. Talk to your boo about your relationship.’

‘First of all, boo? Really? Second of all: What the fuck, Scott? I’m starting to think you’re trying to get rid of me.’

‘Kira is coming here?’ Scott blushed guiltily and stared at his hands.

‘What?’

‘My mom is always home in the afternoon and I just… I really want to… with her.’ Stiles stared at him for a moment.

‘Okay. Use condoms and throw everything in the wash after you are done. No sex in communal areas, because dad will kill me.’

Scott stared at him. ‘You’re honestly the best. Hands down. I love you.’ 

Stiles laughed at that, there was no lie in that at all. ‘I love you, too, you idiot. Text me when it’s safe to return.’ He called over his shoulder as he went for the car keys and left.

‘I will.’

 

Stiles -> Jackson [16:11]  
I’ve been sexiled from my own home, by Scott.

Jackson -> Stiles [16:14]  
How?

Stiles -> Jackson [16:14]  
He came over and tried to get me to leave. Took me a while to get why.

Jackson -> Stiles [16:15]  
Your friendship is weird as fuck.

Stiles -> Jackson [16:15]  
He told me he loved me, so I guess I’m doing something right. 

Jackson -> Stiles [16:16]  
Want to come over?

Stiles -> Jackson [16:16]  
I really do.


	7. the road to hell is paved with good intentions

 

He had the keys to Jackson’s separate (What the fuck were his parents thinking?) summerhouse.  


The moment he was through the door he was being crowded back against it. Between searing hot kisses and wandering hands, he managed to get a few words out.  


‘So— I’m going back to NY next weekend and usually— that involves clubbing and sometimes— fucking.’  


Jackson pulled away from him and fixated him with a stare.  
  
‘I wanted to talk to you about that.’ Stiles continued somewhat helplessly.  


Jackson pulled an eyebrow up. ‘You mean you wanted to let me know, that you’re going to fuck other people, while you’re gone?’

 

‘Shit. No, sorry. I’m not used to talking about this stuff. I was trying to ask you if you wanted to be exclusive?’ Stiles asked, feeling somewhat silly.  


But he was immediately rewarded by another kiss, this one deep and sweet, with lots of body contact.  


‘Yes.’ Jackson finally ground out, hoarsely. ‘Yes. I’d like that.’  
  
‘Okay.’ Stiles nodded, while pushing his face into the crook of Jackson’s neck, breathing him in deeply, grazing his teeth along his neck, holding himself back from nibbling at him.  


‘I just can’t do the label thing yet.’ He added, blushing slightly.  


It seemed okay not to tell someone you’re ‘just dating’ about your furry problem, but not telling your significant other felt a bit strange. Even if they’d been doing this for some time now.  
  
‘That’s okay.’ Jackson said shrugging and Stiles felt somewhat floored.

 

‘You’re really serious about this?’  


‘I am.’ His gaze was calm and collected, while he leaned against him. ‘I’m done fucking myself over.’  


‘I feel like an asshole.’  


‘You are. Not about this, though, just in general.’  


Stiles snorted.  


‘But so am I. I think that’s why we fit so well.’ Jackson laughed.

  
-  


Later when they were freshly showered, just lying next to each other on the couch, with their shoulders occasionally brushing up against each other, Stiles smiled. ‘Drive me to the airport again?’  


‘With Danny?’  


‘Sure.’  


‘Okay.’ Then, after a short pause. ‘You know I could come with, sometime. Not next time or whatever. But I have the money to travel and I’d like to go to New York, anyway, to check out the campus there, so…’  


Stiles stared at him for a bit.

‘I’ll ask. Can’t promise anything, but I’ll ask.’  


Jackson nodded before he leaned back up against him. Smelling relaxed and content and maybe a little fucked out, too.  
Stiles felt really fucking bad about lying to him, when he was being this open with him, even if it was just by omission.  


Seeing Jackson vulnerable wasn’t something he was going to get used to anytime, soon.

 

Before Stiles went home, he excused himself to go lay down in Jackson’s freshly washed laundry pile for a few seconds. His wolf had been more adamant about scenting his people lately and since he couldn’t go around groping everyone all the time, he had taken to laying in freshly laundered clothing. In everyone’s home. For like a minute or two. It helped.

  


-

  


The ride to the airport was nice and not all that different from the last one. Except, Stiles made a huge breakfast for his dad this time and they actually got to say goodbye. Stilinski Style, meaning extra healthy.  


Well and Jackson had picked Stiles up before school and drove them straight to the airport right after. Stiles bought everyone burgers, again and they talked about what they were planning for the weekend.

 

‘I’m going to meet some friends, while I’m in New York. Probably going to visit the campus there. Maybe drive out to Rhode Island. Not sure yet. Oh, I’ll definitely have to go beat up Tony, he cheated on my cousin, so that will be the one fixed thing I’ve planned for this visit.’

 

Danny choked on his bite. ‘That’s cool then?’

 

‘Aubrey is cool with it. She asked me to do it. I agreed. Her brother Dave is too much of a pacifist, but I honestly think having a black eye will earn Tony sympathy points with her, when he grovels back to her.’ Stiles said between bites.

 

‘Your boyfriend is a thug.’ Danny said accusingly to Jackson, who just shrugged.

 

‘I thought I’d take out Jackson to the club.’ Danny said smiling.  
  
‘Could be fun.’ Stiles nodded. ‘I always liked the music at the jungle.’

 

‘Right. That’s where we wanted to go.’ Jackson supplied, while staring at the big ass clock that hung over by the gates.

 

Stiles looked over, saw that he just had a few more minutes and made to stand up, when Jackson pulled him over the table into one searing hot last kiss, with a lot more tongue than Stiles was used to, in broad daylight and in public.

 

‘Damn.’ Danny murmured, when Stiles pulled away breathing hard.  


‘I’ll miss you too, Jackson.’ Stiles snorted. ‘You realize we’re really fucking dysfunctional?’  


‘Does it matter?’ Jackson asked unimpressed.  


‘Not really.’

 

‘I’d take a kiss like that over a sappy declaration, any day of the week.’ The lady in the booth next to them said decidedly.  


Stiles laughed heartily, leaned forward again to peck Jackson on the cheek, before he grabbed his bag and smiled at his friends.  


Called out ‘See ya!’ and stalked off towards the gates, just as his ‘get-your-ass-to-the-gate’ alert went off.

  
  
-  
  


The flight was spent talking with and elderly lady that had approximately ten grandkids that all somehow looked like him enough, to remind her of them and their interests were even similar to his, like all that computer stuff. He wasn’t going to lie, it was weirdly cathartic, to be called sweetheart and asked about what his favorite subjects were.

 

 

As soon as he walked through out of the airport in NY, he was tackled by an overenthusiastic Laura. Derek was on a date but would meet them at the flat, later.

 

‘You smell like other people.’ Laura said sternly.  


‘I can’t help it. My new hobby is apparently to go and lie down in washed laundry piles, to scent mark my friends in a less touchy feely way.’  


‘Seriously?’  


‘Yeah. It’s really soothing for my wolf and it’s actually relaxing. None of them use really strongly perfumed stuff, so the baseline scent mostly stays the same.’  


‘That’s actually very efficient. But it’s not what I meant. I think you imprinted on Abercrombie.’ Laura murmured.  


‘I what?’  


‘Imprinted. Added him to your baseline. One way to do that would be to fuck without a condom, another would be just to spend the better part of a month in close contact.’  


‘That sounds serious. Did I werewolf marry him?’  


‘No, but be careful around him, you might end up a little possessive over him, especially if he smells like other people.’  


‘Good to know.’ Stiles shook his head.

 

‘I have a gift for you. We’re actually on the way to get it.’ Laura said smiling dangerously.  


‘Does it involve bodily harm?’ Stiles asked  


‘A little, but it’s for a good cause and your dad is a-ok with it.’

Stiles hummed.

 

The gifts were tattoos. Tattoos and Piercings.  


‘Well, that’s awkward.’ Stiles murmured.  


‘It’s really not.’  


‘Derek and I have them, too.’  


‘I’ve never seen a piercing on Derek.’  


‘That’s because he put it somewhere, where you can’t see it.’  


‘Oh my god.’  
  
‘Stiles.’  


‘Oh my god. Tell me he didn’t.’  
  
‘Stiles.’  


‘He had his dick pierced?’  


‘Yes, and almost everything else, too. He just liked that one the best. It’s not a big deal. Especially for werewolves. We heal the damage immediately and it closes up as soon as you leave it alone for longer than two minutes. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t experiment with that.’  


Stiles stared at her for a few stunned moments, before he looked over his options.

 

‘I guess I’ll take a bar through the ear, then. What’s it called? Industrial?’ She nodded.

 

‘Good choice, that’s harmless enough and you can actually hide it a little with your hair or beanies.’ Laura agreed. ‘We do this because it helps negate the effects of mountain ash, if you carry a little on your body at all times.’ She explained and picked out a simple black bar with an impressive price tag.

 

Five minutes later it sat snugly in Stiles ear. ‘Looks good.’ Laura commented.  


‘Now, how do you feel about tattoos?’ She asked.

 

‘Never thought much about them, why?’  


‘We have a pack symbol. The triskelion. I’d like for you to have it on you, but it doesn’t have to be a tattoo, could be necklace or a bracelet, too.’ She shrugged.  


Stiles stared at her.

‘Will you guys show me your tattoos later? I think I need to sleep over that for a night or three.’ He laughed. ‘I’ve never been amazing with needles.’  


Laura smiled. ‘Sure. No pressure.’

 

Later that night, Laura showed him the fist-sized symbol over her heart and Derek showed him the one he had on his back and they explained to Stiles what it meant. How it symbolized a cycle, a balance and the idea of constant change.  


It didn’t take much more for Stiles to love it.

 

The next day he had it on his left bicep. It would show, when he wore a T-shirt, but the idea to botch up the placement, just so that he could hide it later, seemed ridiculous.  
  
He was incredibly happy, that he didn’t chose a more sensitive area, when Derek came with the blow torch at him.

 

‘So, I’ve been branded and tagged, am I now officially part of the cult?’ He asked tiredly after the ordeal is over.  


‘Not until we sacrifice a virgin.’ Laura said sternly and Derek nodded gravely.  


‘Good luck with that.’ Stiles mumbled sleepily, before he drifted off.

 

When he woke up next, it was to a buzzing phone.

‘Hello?’ He mumbled more asleep than alert, because it was like 3 am in the morning.  


‘Stiles?’ Jackson’s voice didn’t sound good, he didn’t like to admit it, but he had an insanely good read on Jackson, and he could only guess what fresh horror the other man had gotten himself into.  


‘You alright?’ He asked immediately.  


‘Sure. I’m peachy, that’s why I’m calling you at ass o’clock in the morning.’ Jackson grunted into the phone.  


Stiles stayed silent and debated the pro and cons of hanging up on him.  


‘Don’t hang up.’ Jackson hurriedly said, as if he’d known. He probably had.  


‘Fuck, shit. Okay, this will sound crazy, but at the club there was this dude. Older. I knew he was watching me, but fuck, I’m a lacrosse captain, so I’m not exactly worried, you know?’

 

Stiles tried to calm his breathing, because this sounded bad, really bad. ‘Okay.’ He just said.  


‘Anyway, so I went to take a piss and this guy is already there waiting for me and he’s strong.’ He paused, obviously trying to catch his bearings, before he continued slightly hysterical.  


‘So, he shoves me and before I can even fucking think about how to react, the asshole has me against the tiles—’ More hurried breathing, ‘and then he fucking **bites** me.’ Jackson finishes more than a little hysterical.

 

‘Not sexy biting either, not that it would have been sexy or anything, but Stiles, I have a fucking flesh wound on my shoulder.’ He finishes and Stiles is wide awake now.  


‘Fuck.’ He said again.  


‘You can say that again. I’m on my way to the hospital now, no idea how to explain this.’  


‘Ok, let me think for a second.’ Stiles mumbled; eyes wide. ‘Was he— okay this is going to sound really weird, but did his eyes glow?’  


There was a long pause, before Jackson groaned. ‘So, I didn’t fucking hallucinate that, did I?’  


Stiles grumbled helplessly. ‘Yeah, well. If he bit you, the eye color is kind of important.’  


‘Why do you know this?’ Jackson whispered  


‘I— I’ll explain later okay?’  


‘His shitty eyes were blue, ok? Whatever the fuck that means to you and he was really surprised, too. Told me I smelled like one of them and hightailed it out of there, when he realized I had no idea what that meant.’  


Stiles palmed his face and shook his head.  


‘Stiles, I was wearing your shirt, tonight. Your fucking shirt. He thought I smelled like—’  
  
‘Jackson.’ Stiles interrupted what sounded like the beginning of a panic attack.  


‘Calm down. I swear I’ll explain everything. Is your wound still bleeding?’  


‘No, it stopped a while ago, doesn’t look good though.’  


Stiles stared at his hands, before he made an executive decision. Laura needed to see this. to verify that Jackson would be alright.

‘Can you fly out to New York tonight?’  


‘What?’ Jackson shouted.  


‘I’m asking if—’  


‘I understand what you’re asking. Jesus Stiles— you can’t just ask people to go fly to wherever the fuck you are at ass o’clock in the morning for an explanation.  


‘You could wait, until I’m back, too?’ Stiles said indignantly.  


‘Whatever the fuck happened tonight, happened because I was wearing your shirt.’ Jackson reminded him.  


‘…And if you want to know what that is, you’ll have to trust me and get your ass up here.’  


‘My dad is going to kill me.’  


‘Oh, fuck off. Your dad won’t even realize your gone, when you leave a note saying you’re at Danny’s.’  


‘True enough.’ The he paused. ‘You’re seriously delusional for thinking I’ll get my ass to the airport and fly out to NY for your shitty explanation.’  


Stiles thought about it for a moment. ‘You’ll do it.’  


There was some cursing before Jackson finally said, ‘You’re lucky I’m loaded. I’ll be there in like four hours. That explanation better be good.’ And he hung up.

 

_Well, fuck._   
  
Stiles stared at his phone accusingly, before Laura’s hand on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts.

 

‘It’s not your fault.’ She said, knowingly.  


‘It happened because he wore my shirt.’ Stiles felt like shit, honest to god, just bad.  


‘No wolf just bites another, without any preamble. This doesn’t happen, how could you have known?’ She asked exasperated.  


‘Should I have lied to him?’  


‘No. Leaving him knowing half-truths is more dangerous to us. You made the right call. Bit impulsive with the flying people out and inviting them into our den, but it was the right call none the less.’  


Stiles nodded.

 

And then he made himself a coffee and Laura went back to bed. Derek had slept through the whole thing and would be filled in in the morning. Laura had already handed her keys over, so that he could go and get Jackson in a few hours without any problems.

 

He palmed his face as he stared at his cup of coffee. ‘Shit.’ He mumbled to himself. He knew he felt something for Jackson, but he hadn’t let himself examine that any closer, because of their circumstances. Him not being exactly being human and all.

 

‘Shit.’ He whispered again, before downing his cup in one go.

He stared at his phone again.

 

 

Jackson -> Stiles [03:20]

I can’t believe I’m fucking doing this.

 

Jackson -> Stiles [03:25]

I’m at the airport, I’ll be there around 6:45. You better bring breakfast.

 

Stiles -> Jackson [03:25]

I’ll be there.

 

Stiles knew from experience that the ride to the airport was going to take him about an hour. But since he couldn’t do anything other than angst about meeting Jackson, he took his time to down another cup of coffee. Change into his dark, ripped jeans and a thin grey cotton shirt with a soft fitted hoodie thrown over.

He quickly contemplated which bakery to stake out, before he went with the poshest one, he remembered.

 

Ridiculously expensive pastries bought, he made his way to the airport. He almost didn’t enjoy the wet dream of a car he was currently driving. Almost.

Angsting aside, the Camaro was still awesome.

 

After he parked, he made his way to the gate and bought some fresh coffee on the way, before he sat down and waited.

The first round of coffee was for him alone, which earned him some confused stares. Well, to be fair he had sat down with two grande and drank them in no time at all. However, the second time he went to buy some, he actually bought one for Jackson, too.

 

When he finally came out of the Gate, Stiles was beyond relieved.  


Jackson still wore his shirt and seemed to have just taped over the bite. He also looked really fucking exhausted. But the worst thing was, how his wolf roared at Stiles to scent him. The older wolf’s scent was all over Jackson. Which was honest to god wrecking havoc on his senses. Shit.

 

Stiles reached carefully over, as of to test the waters and Jackson leaned into the touch for a moment. The tenseness bled out of him, when Stiles drained some of his pain while he pulled him into a hug.

 

‘What the fuck?’ Jackson asked drowsily.  


‘I’m sorry, Jax. I’ll tell you on the way, okay?’  


Jackson stared at him for a moment and he could see the moment, where the other man remembered that he was actually very mad at him and pulled away.

He nodded stoically, while Stiles handed him a cup of coffee and led them back to the Camaro.

 

Jackson just pulled up an eyebrow at the car.

‘I’m going to fucking kill you, if I find out you haven’t been lying about that old ass sugar daddy.’  


Stiles snorted. ‘I borrowed it from Laura.’  


He sat down and took the bag of pastries, not really acknowledging it, while he mustered Stiles profile as the other man was driving.

 

Stiles started talking after a while. Methodically, not rushing through anything.  


‘Jackson, I’m a werewolf.’ He said without much preamble.  
  
‘I haven’t been one for long. There are a lot of things I don’t know, yet. I was bitten by Laura during spring break. If she hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t be here today.’  


Jackson didn’t seem all that surprised. His eyes were calculating as if he expected something along these lines. Granted he’d just been bitten himself, so denying the possibility would have been hard.

 

Jackson interrupted him a lot. Asked about the accident. The Argents and his dad. But most of his questions were about what being a werewolf meant and what it did to Stiles.

 

‘I’m not going to turn?’ He asked, for what felt like the thousandth time.  


‘No, you won’t.’ Stiles reaffirmed.  


‘Good.’  


Stiles nodded. He wasn’t sure what Jackson’s heart just did, but the other man didn’t seem like he was lying.

 

‘So, did you do anything weird to me during our relationship?’

Stiles stared at Jackson, who was apparently over Stiles not acknowledging their relationship.  
  
‘Before I went to go to NY, I laid down in your freshly washed laundry to get it to smell a little bit like me.’ He felt himself flushing.  


‘I did the same thing at Scott’s and with my dad’s stuff.’ He ducked his head. ‘I’m sorry.’

 

Jackson just stared at him.

‘If what you told me is true, this doesn’t usually happen.’  


‘It’s not— I don’t know how to explain this very well to someone who doesn’t have the instinctual response, so bear with me, ok?’  


Jackson nodded.  


‘Wolfs respect traditional marking. Doesn’t matter if it’s a mating mark or a scenting or a fucking boundary line that’s surrounding a territory. It applies to everything. Family, friends, partners and packs. If a wolf scents another wolf on a human, that means that human is off limits. It’s a bit like an instinct, but stronger. Especially if your outside of your territory, which the wolf was. He was on Hale land.’  


Stiles looked over at Jackson.

‘What he did isn’t not just unusual, it was unnatural.’

 

They didn’t talk for a while and Stiles started to fidget a bit.

 

Jackson stared at his hands, when he started to talk again. ‘I thought it was drugs, maybe.’

 

‘What?’  


‘Your muscles were obvious, but your personality changed, too.’  


‘You thought I was on drugs?’ Stiles asked incredulously.  


Jackson blatantly ignored his indignation.  


‘Stiles I’ve been working out my entire life. I know everything there is to know about muscle gain and building strength and the one thing I can guarantee you is, that it doesn’t happen overnight and it sure as fuck doesn’t just take five weeks to change your entire built.’  


‘I was fit before.’  


‘Yeah, I know. But your shoulders weren’t that pronounced, your six pack wasn’t either, you also still had some baby fat in your face.’  


‘I resent that.’  


‘Didn’t bother me.’ Jackson shrugged.  
  
Stiles tried to wait for Jackson to continue, but when he didn’t, he lost his patience.

‘So?’  


‘So what?’ Jackson asked.  


‘So, how do you feel about this?’

 

Jackson snorted. ‘Is me sharing my fucking thoughts going to stop you from circling the airport?’  


Stiles looked up surprised and a little guilty.

‘I’m staying with the pack at the moment and I need to know how you feel about this, before I can bring you to them.’  


Jackson stared at him in disbelief. ‘What the fuck are you thinking? That I’m going to the hunters about this? With a big fucking bite mark on my shoulder to boot?’

 

‘If this was just about me, I wouldn’t think twice about trusting you, after this, but they— They’ve—’  


Jackson understood immediately, the clever bastard. ‘Fucking hell. The Hale fire.’

His eyes widened.

‘They are going that far?’

 

Stiles nodded. ‘There were humans in there, too.’ He explained.  


‘So, I’m in danger just for associating with you.’  


‘You weren’t when you didn’t know about this…’ He gestured to everything.  


‘And you wouldn’t have told me about it, either. Shit, is that what all the label bullshit was about?’ Jackson was now livid.  


‘You’re right. I wouldn’t have, not for a while.’ Stiles admitted. ‘Mainly because I’m still new to all of this and really out of my depth. I wanted to know you a bit better, before I told you something about me, that could get me and everyone who’s associated with me killed.’ He explained calmly.

 

Jackson rolled his eyes.

 

‘I get it.’ He finally said. ‘I won’t say anything. It’s not like—’ He breathed in deeply. ‘I don’t want you hurt.’ He finally said.

 

Well, he sure as fuck hoped Jackson didn’t want to hurt him.

 

When Stiles didn’t answer for a while, somewhat relieved about the steady heartbeat, Jackson added.  


‘But I will kick your ass, if you don’t stop circling the airport.’

Stiles laughed at that and made his way back.

 

After a few minutes of driving, they started talking again, like they normally do.

‘So, I didn’t get to ask you, before, but before the whole shit with the bite happened, did you have fun?’  


‘It was cool. Not as much fun as house parties, mainly because a lot of those people are really pathetic, and they are prowling the place like they can just choose and pick whoever. But the music was good, and Danny was fun, until he fucked off with his boyfriend.’  


‘We can go. If you want to, while you’re here.’

 

Jackson nodded. ‘Might be fun. But I should probably let someone look at my shoulder first.’

 

Stiles almost swiveled of the road. He’d almost forgotten. The past few weeks he’d healed every wound before it could even hurt all that much and here, he left Jackson in the car with him and didn’t even think to help him.

 

‘What?’ Jackson asked leaning back into the seat, obviously exhausted, now that some of the fight had left him.  


‘Laura has some stuff back at her place. I’ve already looked through it. It’s a supernatural wound and if we do this right, you might not even get a scar.’  


‘Alright.’ Jackson nodded. He languidly opened the paper back and got out one of the pastries.

 

When they got to the apartment Jackson was following closely behind him. He looked a little surprised when Stiles got his keys out to open the door.

 

Derek was the first one to meet them, which was honestly unfortunate, because his worried look and his menacing one weren’t that discernable, especially not to a stranger.


	8. we're all scared of something

‘He’s alright. He won’t turn.’ Stiles hurried to say, and Derek stepped towards Jackson and put a hand on his arm, Jackson who had never been one to back off, was just about to shrug it off, when the pain drain kicked in.

‘What the fuck.’ Jackson said as he stared at the black veins.

‘Pain drain.’ Stiles explained while walking them back to the kitchen.

Jackson stared at Derek for a moment, before he nodded. ‘Thanks.’

Derek shook his head. ‘No problem.’

Laura had already put down a huge assortment of breakfast foods when Stiles deposited the pastry bag on the table.

‘You bought the good stuff, huh? Trying to impress Abercrombie, now, aren’t you?’

‘That’s right and I was. Hey, where did you put the first aid supplies, I laid out?’ He asked.

‘Countertop. By the way, you need to strip so I can see what’s going on with your shoulder.’

Jackson nodded and stripped of his shirt. No one commented on his ridiculous built, because every person stared at the bite mark.

Stiles growled lowly. ‘It’s not a clean bite.’ He finally was able to say.

Derek nodded. ‘Whoever did this wasn’t looking to turn or fight. Maybe they really mistook him for a beta.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Because he still smells like arousal and biting can be a sex thing for some werewolves.’  
  
Stiles made a face.

‘It’s only done by people who believe they need to emulate the wolf more into their life.’

‘What the actual fuck?’ Jackson asked. ‘People do this shit for fun?’

‘They think it makes them stronger, leads to a closer connection.’ Derek explained.

‘To be fair, if you had been another wolf, you would have healed this in seconds.’ Laura reminded.

‘It’s still—’ Stiles gestured with his hands as if he couldn’t quite express how much he didn’t agree with it, before he continued. ‘Thinking about it feels messed up. My wolf fucking reels at the thought. It very clearly doesn’t approve.’ He mumbled.

‘No, yours for sure wouldn’t.’ Laura laughed. ‘Neither does mine, actually.’ She conceded. ‘And Derek’s isn’t a fan either.’

‘So, it’s like a fetish?’ Jackson tried again.

‘I guess.’ Laura shrugged.

‘What did you mean when you said Stiles for sure wouldn’t?’ Jackson asked again.  
  
Laura looked at Stiles before she answered, but he just stared at Jackson’s shoulder as Laura cleaned it and applied different pastes to it.

‘Stiles is very protective.’ She finally said.

‘Yeah, no fucking surprise there.’ Jackson shrugged and Stiles pulled up an eyebrow.

Jackson stared at him in disbelief. ‘Dude, you can only beat up so many bullies, before that gets very fucking obvious.’

‘When did I—’

‘If we’re going to ignore middle school, where I was the main asshole, and you fought with me a lot, back then, there’s still plenty of incidents. Or are you seriously going to tell me you don’t remember beating up Marcus and Johnathan for filming Erica, when she was having a seizure? Or that dude from the private school, who stole Scotts inhaler, during the lacrosse game, back in first year? And let’s not forget Matt, who’s camera you destroyed because he was stalking your acquaintance. The fact that you are really fucking protective isn’t news to me, what does that have to do with the wolf thing, anyway?’

Derek and Laura stared at Stiles, while Stiles blushed and looked out the window.   
  
Finally, he explained. ‘The wolf isn’t a separate being that has all these urges you can’t make sense of. It emulates what you feel and gets triggered, especially by strong emotions. Laura meant that my wolf would be protective of you, because I am. It wouldn’t make sense for him to want to hurt people I care about. That’s why I’m not into inflicting flesh wounds.’

Laura stared a bit longer and Derek looked at Laura accusingly. ‘I told you he had a fucked up self-awareness. Hyperactive spazz my foot.’

Laura shrugged. ‘It has to come from somewhere. If he’s ignored his peers ever since they stopped insulting him to his face, he wouldn’t know that they’ve changed their mind about him, would he?’

‘Oh, lay off it. There might be some people who know me better than others, but the majority of them has no fucking clue and it’s not like I care anymore, either.’ Stiles groaned. This shit was really low on his priority list right now.

They all stared at Jackson’s wound, when Laura started to search through the kit.

‘This is going to hurt.’ Laura finally said as she pulled out a few strands of wolfsbane and bruised them slightly, before pushing them into the half-healed bite mark.

‘I don’t feel anything?’ Jackson murmured surprised as he stared at the herbs.

Laura snorted. ‘Stiles.’

Jackson’s head whipped around to see Stiles hand on his shoulder next to where Laura was pressing in the herbs, black veined and secure.

Jackson scoffed. ‘I can take a little pain.’

‘You already did. Besides this will make me feel squeamish for all of five minutes. You’d be out for hours.’

Jackson looked unimpressed.

‘Tell you what?’ Stiles continued. ‘The next time someone shoves wolfsbane into one of your open wounds, I let you deal with it on your own.’

Jackson was about to sass right back, when Derek snorted, and Stiles blush deepened.

‘I dislike this situation a lot.’ Stiles said quietly, while stoically staring out the window.

Jackson looked over to Derek and smiled. ‘He’s lying, isn’t he?’

‘Big time.’ Derek agreed and winked at Jackson.

Stiles shot Derek a betrayed look, but got over it when the older man, mouthed something at him that sounded suspiciously like ‘Revenge’.

Jackson was honestly too dazed to care. The werewolf healing induced high, was really nice. Very relaxing and unlike anything he ever felt. It was such a clear absence of discomfort and pain and just brought relief. ‘I fucking love this.’ Jackson murmured absentmindedly.

‘Stiles.’ said Laura warningly. ‘Don’t take too much.’

Stiles nodded and backed off slowly.

When Jackson fell asleep against the counter, Stiles nodded absentmindedly towards Laura and heaved him onto the couch.

After that he came back into the kitchen and ate with Derek and Laura.  
  
‘Well, he seems nice enough. I don’t think he’ll betray us.’

Stiles snorted a bit at the notion of Jackson actually making a good first impression.

‘We talked for a long time in the car. I circled the airport a few times, actually. Anyway, when I started explaining things to him, he figured the rest out on his own. He realizes how dangerous being associated with all of this is and he also understands that by continuing to associate with me, he also paints a target on his own back.’

Laura nodded. ‘He seemed neither afraid nor disgusted with any of this. In fact, I have a rather good feeling about this. Also, the way he trusted you with all of this, makes it very clear that he has no intention of risking your relationship.’

Stiles shrugged, trying to get a read on Jackson had been a bit of a nightmare since this whole thing started. ‘I don’t know about that.’

Derek laughed. ‘You’re approach to these things is so messed up sometimes.’

‘I resent that.’ Stiles muttered, as he picked up a flaky pastry that was filled with some kind of vanilla custard and bit into it. ‘Fuck that’s good.’

‘Seriously?’ Derek asked skeptically.

‘Yes. I thought that place was just pretentious, but this is actually great. Maybe I’ll get some for Scott and Melissa to take back.’

Derek took one that smelled like dark chocolate and fresh berries. ‘Holy shit.’ He murmured.

‘I know right?’ Laura groaned as she ate one of the eclairs.

After half an hour of shameless indulging, Laura needed to go work and Derek wanted to hit the gym.

‘I’ll wake him up later, he’s been awake all night and he’ll need the rest especially with that wound.’ He muttered as Laura mussed his hair.

‘Take care of your boo.’ She said laughing, as Stiles groaned.

Ten minutes later he was alone at the apartment and didn’t know what to do with himself. So, he decided on a nap to catch up on some sleep, he laid down next to Jackson on the couch and was immediately soothed by his relaxed scent.

He hadn’t realized how on edge the wolf had been after the first scent impression he’d gotten from Jackson had been filled with so much pain and hurt.  
Cuddling into the nape of the other man’s neck, soothed him and soon he started to drift off.

He was woken up by an insistent tapping against his shoulder and he immediately let go of his cuddle buddy ‘Sorry Scott.’ He murmured and burrowed deeper into the couch cushions.

‘Not Scott.’ Jackson’s voice answered him, somewhat annoyed.

‘Calm down, he’s basically my brother.’ Stiles immediately dismissed while yawning and stretching.

‘Where’s the bathroom in here?’ Jackson asked, still sounding tired.

‘Second door on the left.’ He explained groggily, while slowly opening his eyes. They were still alone.

‘How are you feeling?’ He asked as Jackson went to leave.

Jackson mustered him for a moment. ‘Not sure, yet.’

Stiles nodded.

‘Do you have a change of clothes? I’d like to shower.’

Stiles quickly got up and handed Jackson everything, he would need. He wasn’t really sure why he suddenly felt nervous, especially since he’d been very nonchalant about their whole relationship, at least up to this point. But now, he wasn’t.

He still tried to be mature about it, but having Jackson in the know about who he really was, meant a lot to him and if they kept going out, it would be nice to have his company during full moons and run with him and probably scent mark him.

He also liked the cuddling to be honest. Being emotionally unavailable wasn’t his thing, it just was a byproduct of his life style.

Stiles stood in front of the kettle and decided on tea. Preferably herbal. He needed to calm the fuck down.

After he was done with that, he raided the fridge for left overs and started to pile them onto the table. Jackson had to be hungry by now.

When the blond came out of bathroom, smelling only like himself, Stiles clothes, and fresh water, Stiles had to hold himself back from rubbing up against him.

Jackson sat down at the table quietly and started piling food on his plate.

‘So…’ He started and Stiles was eager to hear what was on his mind.

‘Yes?’

‘So, who else knows about this?’ He finally asked.

Stiles frowned slightly, before he answered. ‘Just my dad.’

Jackson’s eyes widened. ‘You didn’t tell Scott?’

Stiles shook his head, before he decided to give him the whole answer.   
  
‘Telling someone is a huge deal. I trust Scott with my life and if it had just been me, I would have told him, but it’s not just my life that’s in danger when someone slips up. I have to take that into consideration. I thought about inviting Scott along to come to New York in the future. Have him meet Laura and Derek and get their okay on the whole thing.’ He shrugged. ‘Same deal with you, honestly.’

Jackson’s eyes widened. ‘That’s good.’ He finally said as he nodded reluctantly.

Stiles shrugged and then he felt like shit. He needed to be mature about this. He couldn’t just ignore the issue. That would do more harm than good.

‘Listen,’ He started unsure, how to word this, ‘I get that this changes things for you. This is not what you signed up for, when we started out.’

He drummed his fingers against the table, nervously, but he knew he needed to make eye contact for this. It was important. When he met Jackson’s eyes, he saw his assessing glare and he continued.

‘I won’t hold it against you when you decide that it’s not what you want.’

Jackson nodded, before he stared at the table again. ‘Yeah, I don’t fucking think so.’ He just said and Stiles honest to god snorted.

Jackson glared at him a bit, before he continued. ‘I know this means something to you and I appreciate that you didn’t give me some bullshit excuse of wanting to protect me or not trusting me enough. That you didn’t even tell Scott, makes it real fucking obvious that you clearly weren’t ready to tell anyone, yet.’

Stiles looked incredulous. ‘This is my first relationship. Of course, you mean something to me.’ Because who was he even kidding at this point?

Jackson stared at the table.

‘Wait, are you blushing?’ Stiles asked.

‘Fuck off.’ Jackson said as he stabbed furiously at his bacon.

‘For the record, I’m really sorry about what happened to you.’ He looked at the gauze again.  
‘Even if I’m glad that you’re in the know, now.’

Jackson smirked at him. ‘Are you going to do freaky werewolf stuff to me now?’

Stiles snorted. ‘If you feel comfortable with it, maybe. I feel like the level of freakiness will be underwhelming, though.’

Jackson’s eyes widened. ‘So, there is stuff you have been holding back?’

‘Kind of.’ Stiles shrugged. ‘It’s weird for me, too. I never wanted this much physical contact before. It’s like I need you to smell like me.’

Jackson wrinkled his nose and Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘Get your mind out of the gutter. That just means, I want to hug you a lot or run my hands through your hair. Bury my face in your neck. Cuddle. Share clothes. Stuff like that.’

Jackson looked him over curiously. ‘In private?’

‘Sometimes in public. Especially after Lacrosse praxis, when you smell like ten other sweaty guys and excitement. That drives my wolf crazy.’

‘Your wolf?’ Jackson pulled up an eyebrow.

‘It’s like half of all my emotions bundled up and transformed into an animal that growls when I’m angry or whines when I’m sad. He also has a slightly different sense of family and friends. He translates people who I care about as pack and protecting them is basically on the forefront of half of my wolfy instincts all the time. The other half of my feelings is still expressed as usual. Common sense is also still a thing that exists for me, which is why I never followed up on the idea to fuck you up against the shower tiles in the locker room, after praxis, to make sure you smell like me.’

‘Shame that.’ Jackson drawled and Stiles couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not. They smiled at each other.

‘So, I’m thinking I’m ready to come out.’ Jackson said slowly.

Stiles grinned positively wolfish. ‘Does that mean I’ll be meeting the parents soon?’

Jackson nodded and smirked again. ‘Means we can finally fuck under the bleachers, like every other god damned couple in this school. You could mark me up real good, while you’re at it. That would be a pretty epic coming out, not only to the school but also to my parents, as well.’

Alright, that was definitely sarcasm. Stiles smirked and leaned in. ‘Can I scent mark you?’ He asked, cautiously.

‘Does it have anything to do with piss?’ Jackson asked piqued.

Stiles snorted. ‘No, it’s just what I already told you. The physical stuff, the hugging and neck thing.’ He murmured almost embarrassed.

Jackson nodded, and Stiles immediately pulled him up and against him. Pressing his face into his neck and breathing in deeply.

Jackson smelled absolutely fantastic in his clothes. He sighed as he pulled the other man against him and started to lick and suck along the expanse of his neck, while he pressed their bodies together.

The smell of their lust was intoxicating.

‘Bathroom.’ Stiles murmured as Jackson gasped and grabbed onto him, trying to force him into place to grind up against him.

‘What?’

‘They’ll be able to smell it otherwise.’ Stiles groaned, before he sucked another bruise into Jackson’s neck, while the other man pulled at his hair.

‘Alright.’ He heard him sigh, softly almost breathless.

‘Fuck. Ok.’ And he hauled them into the bathroom.

Shower turned on the two guys hopped in and Stiles immediately pressed Jackson against the tiles. He slowly kissed along his backside until he reached his ass and pulled apart the cheeks. Jackson groaned when he slightly blew on his hole and started to shake when he began rimming him. In slow circles, while his other hand worked Jackson’s cock.

‘Fuck. Stiles. Please.’ Jackson whimpered as he pressed up against him. But Stiles was having too much fun. He continued to lick him and pump his cock until the other man reached for his hair and pulled at it with so much fucking force that even Stiles groaned.  
  
He was promptly shoved against the opposite wall and his back crashed into it with a resounding smack, before Jackson pulled him into a sloppy kiss.  
  
Next thing he knew Jackson started pumping his cock and punctuated every word he said with a harsh tug. ‘Stop teasing and fuck me like you mean it.’

Stiles would have smirked or laughed because how the fuck could he not mean it? But he was too turned on to do either.

He just grabbed Jackson pushed him back until he laid flat in the tub, pulled his legs up until his knees were pressed up against his chest and grabbed more of the lube.

Jackson practically keened when he started to fuck into him. Hard and relentless. There was, only the sounds of the cool water hitting the tub, the slapping of their skin against each other and the harsh breaths of the two of them.

When Jackson came, he grabbed onto Stiles with enough force to bruise him and he would have shouted, if Stiles hadn’t sealed his mouth in a searing hot kiss.

Stiles followed shortly after.

When they were done, they both laid down in the tub for a few moments, not willing to move just yet.

‘Scent marking seems like an okay thing to do.’ Jackson finally said and Stiles laughed against his neck.

‘Yeah?’ he asked pulling up an eyebrow.

‘The rimming was intense.’ Jackson murmured.

Stiles still smiled when he said, ‘Everything with you is intense.’

‘Hmm.’ Jackson agreed. They both groaned.

‘We’ll need to shower again and let the water run for about five minutes to get rid of the scent.’

Jackson nodded. ‘Have a lot of experience with that?’

‘I like jacking off as much as the next guy.’ Stiles shrugged and Jackson nodded.

When they came out of the shower, they still opened a few windows and were done just in time before Laura came home.

‘So you two kissed and made up?’ Was the first thing she said to them.

‘What?’ Stiles asked feeling dumb. He thought he’d been careful.

‘Oh, I understand the confusion. You cleaned up great. What no one could have known and what I’ll tease Derek with for the rest of his life for (because how could he have actually been this naive?), was the fact that he went and brought his date here to meet you or go out with you guys or something?’

Stiles paled, while Jackson snickered. ‘Oh no.’

‘Oh yes. Must have been some pretty intense sex, you two had. They lasted about a minute in the apartment before Derek turned tail and called his big sister after leaving her a hilarious amount of endearingly confused messages.’

She pulled out her phone smiling sadistically while she read out loud, ‘Alright, first one: I can’t tell if they are beating each other up or fucking. What should I do? / Second one: What the fuck? I think someone just got thrown into the wall. / Third one: May’s definitely into it. Her face is dark red, and she smells excited. I swear to god, if I’m going to have to ask Stiles for tips in this, too. I’m just going to give up on dating.’

He didn’t know what Jackson was doing, but Stiles was most definitely facepalming. Somehow having someone overhear him at the club with some stranger was not as big a deal as this. Maybe because it was far more personal. ‘That’s so awkward.’ He groaned.

Jackson smirked his asshole smirk as he said. ‘Fuck no. Our sex was so hot, it basically got Derek’s girlfriend off.’

So, Jackson was as shameless about this as he was when they were actually doing it. Figures.

Laura threw her head back and laughed. ‘God, don’t let Derek hear you say that.’ She snorted.

‘Yeah, he’ll be a sourpuss about it.’ Stiles agreed as Jackson just shrugged.

‘I call it, how I see it.’


	9. we can't control every aspect of our life's and that's a scary realization

They talked a bit more. Especially Laura and Jackson. 

The guy really made an effort. He didn’t need to, because on some level Laura had already accepted him, when she smelled him in Stiles baseline scent, but it was appreciated. 

Especially since he really didn’t seem like the type of guy that would do that for just about anyone.

When Derek joined them later, pink ears, averted eyes and all, Stiles took that as an open invitation to ask absolutely anything about Derek’s night with May.

It turned out that it had went fairly well, at least up until the point where she told him she wanted him to punch her in the face when they finally did it.

‘What.’ Laura asked, without any intonation.

‘I obviously didn’t. We didn’t do anything tonight, because she wanted to let me know in advance that that was something she needed.’ Derek said miserably.

Stiles nodded. ‘Okay, so she’s not the one, you’ll find someone who’s compatible with you and what you like.’ He said easily.

‘What? No. I can work on that.’ Derek stated.

‘You can work on that?’ Stiles asked incredulous. ‘You don’t even punch me in the face when we spar.’

‘If it’s something that she needs…’ Derek started and to everyone’s surprise Jackson answered. 

‘Listen, if I was with someone that couldn’t be rough with me, I’d always miss it like hell and it’s not the kind of roughness that’s playful. It’s the one that’s almost too much, that really lets me know that we’re both invested and into it. It’s intense and it feels like it only works when both parties trust each other enough to know their limits. It makes me feel really freaking strong when I can throw my werewolf boyfriend into a tile wall and he lets me, even though we both know he doesn’t have to.’

‘Actually that one took me by surprise. You totally had me there for a moment.’ Stiles admitted, while thinking everything over.

‘Fuck. Seriously?’ Jackson stared at him, while Laura gave Jackson an assessing gaze. 

‘That’s actually very impressive. I’ve thrown Stiles before I know he’s not easy to push around.’

‘Your strong as hell.’ Stiles nodded, smiling at Jackson, who actually looked pleased with himself.

‘It’s different with us, though.’ Stiles added. ‘We don’t punch each other in the face. We also don’t have a dynamic where one is the aggressor and the other one is submissive. I get what you were getting at though. It’s noticeable if you’re not into it. Also, no offense, but I understand why you’re reluctant about this, Derek. I wouldn’t be into punching someone in the face either. Especially not with super strength in the heat of the moment.’ Stiles said as he looked at Derek again.

Derek shook his head. ‘It’s just weird to me. She seems so sweet and timid almost. Also, how am I even supposed to punch her, without actually, seriously hurting her.’

Laura shook her head. ‘Yeah that would be a struggle for me, too. Being rough with each other and full on fighting and punching each other are completely different things.’ She added.

‘Just, if I tried, I mean…’ Derek looked miserable and Stiles groaned and stepped up.

‘Alright, but I’m not just letting you do it. We’re going to have a proper fight and your goal is to punch me in the face sometime during it. Try to control your strength but don’t make it too soft. We’re trying to figure out if you’re even able to pull it off when there’s no pressure.’

Derek nodded and the next thing that happened was that Stiles tackled him to the groaned. They struggled for a bit before they started to hone in on each other’s faces, occasionally going for the ribs, kicking at the legs.   
When they struggled out of the kitchen and fell into the living room, they heard a loud thud and Stiles disgruntled voice. Followed by Derek’s frantic questions.

‘Shit are you ok?’

‘Course, dude. It’s nothing.’

Stiles walked out with a broken bloody nose and Jackson pulled up an eyebrow when Derek followed him with a black eye.

‘Yeah, that’s definitely not my thing.’ Stiles mumbled as he set his nose in the reflection of the microwave while Derek looked super uncomfortable behind him.

Laura looked at him seriously. ‘Do you actually feel bad about that?’ She asked.

Derek shrugged helplessly and Stiles turned to the faucet and started to wash his bloody face with cold water. The cold immediately spurred on the healing process.

When he came back up, he looked as good as new. It had healed already.

‘Dude could you live with yourself if she ended up having a bruise or something that she would have to cover up.’

‘Definitely not.’ Derek groaned.

‘Then don’t do it. Don’t even try it. We all have things we don’t like. That’s what dating is for. Finding out if you’re compatible.’ He said as he grabbed a bag of peas from the freezer and threw it at Derek who pressed it against his eye.

Laura nodded. ‘I’m sure May wouldn’t want you forcing yourself into doing something for her you don’t really want to do. Especially not something sexual. That’s probably another reason why she told you in advance. Just be open about it and tell her that you’re not compatible that way.’

Derek groaned, as he stood up and put the peas back, face unblemished again. ‘I’ll talk to her about it tomorrow.’ He finally said.

‘So anyone up for a night out?’ Laura asked grinning brightly.

‘Are we going with Dave and Aubrey?’ Stiles asked.

‘Just Dave. Aubrey’s nursing her useless boyfriend back to health.’

‘I didn’t even punch him that hard.’ Stiles groaned.

‘I know, you didn’t. Turns out Dave is not a very good pacifist.’ Laura explained, patiently, while Stiles looked at her with wide eyes.

‘Seriously?’

‘Not joking whatsoever. Had to pull him away from the guy.’

‘Damn.’

‘Enough violence for today.’ Derek groaned. ‘This is giving me a headache.’

Stiles nodded. ‘Going out might take your mind off of things, though. Besides I promised Jackson a night out in New York.’ He added belatedly.

Derek menaced at Jackson for a moment, who looked honestly a bit nervous.

‘Alright.’ He finally said. ‘But someone’s getting Chinese takeout while we’re waiting ages for Laura to get ready.’

‘Already on it.’ Stiles smiled and walked to the door.

_

 

Laura ditched Derek to get ready, which left the other man with Jackson in the kitchen.

‘Want to watch sports?’ He finally said.

Jackson smiled. ‘Hell yes.’

Derek snorted. ‘So, what kind of sports are you into? Throwing werewolves around can’t be the only one.’

Jackson answered immediately. ‘I did Ice Hockey all through middle school but ended up switching to Lacrosse because it was a big deal at my high school. In my free time I watch a lot of basketball though.’ He added as Derek started to get out a few Budweiser.

‘I played basketball in high school. Any teams you’re rooting for right now?’ 

And that was it. That was his in with Derek and it worked. Jackson felt eerily relieved about that and he actually enjoyed their following discussion about basketball a lot. 

It still baffled him that he knew these personal details about someone who seemed so private, before even haven gotten to know them properly. He got why Stiles relished in these kinds of relationship instead of the superficial niceties of the popular crowd.

After destroying the Chinese food and actually getting ready for clubbing. Stiles looked hot in his ripped, tight black jeans and his dark long-sleeved shirt, that actually did a lot for his physique. The tousled hair practically begged to be pulled.  
His eyes were bright and he seemed relaxed and happy in a way Jackson hadn’t seen Stiles in Beacon Hills ever.

It was horrifying and exciting to find these completely new facets of someone you think you’ve known, all your life.

Derek and Laura were beautiful people and they needed to do very little to put emphasize on that. Jackson himself squeezed himself into one of Stiles pairs of black jeans and one of Stiles tight T-shirts that showed of his muscles and was stretched out in all the right places. 

They met Dave at one of those indie clubs, that had a name no one could pronounce and a Cocktail on tab that actually tasted good. The five of them went in and danced and laughed and just enjoyed their evening. 

The vibe was just chill, and he was beginning to appreciate that. He had nothing to prove here. No one to impress. He could just be.

-

Stiles had an amazing night. They were there together as friends, not one of them was cruising or making out in the corner. They literally just talked, danced and got drunk. It was such a relaxed and just overall chill evening. He immediately decided that this would need to happen more often.

Derek and Jackson could actually talk about stuff that interested them both. It was honestly endearing to smell excitement about that fact on them both.

Connecting to pack was important and Stiles got that Jackson had somehow become pack by extension. However, it pleased his wolf greatly when everyone clicked without a lot of conflict.

He even introduced Jackson to Dave as his boyfriend, which earned him a reluctant, but honest to god happy smile from Jackson. Not a smirk, but a smile.

When they got home, he’d introduce him to his dad, he decided.

It was kind of funny how confused Jackson was when everyone, besides Dave who had gone back to his place, piled into Laura’s bed. He quickly pulled Jackson along with him and thus had him sandwiched between himself and the wall, with Laura laying on top of them both and Derek on his other side, arm and leg thrown over all three of them.

After a while Jackson’s confused scent changed into contentment and when Derek grumbled. ‘Sleep already.’ He actually followed his advice.

Waking up in a puppy pile was great, because they cuddled. Actually cuddled. Jackson hadn’t felt this connected to another person in a platonic way since his early childhood.

Danny and him they were close, but they didn’t cross certain lines. Cuddling was one of them.

So being snuggled up with three other people was new for him. New but nice.

Stiles had been reading his scent and facial expressions for a while now to be able to gage what he was actually comfortable with and pull him from the situation if something made him feel bad, but thankfully that hadn’t been the case.

However, today was Sunday, so they’d spent a lot of time in bed together or on the couch together. 

When he explained that to Jackson over breakfast he just nodded. Accepting it as part of everything else. 

Stiles was strongly reminded of himself when he first felt this unconditional acceptance of him as a part of Laura’s little family and he could relate.

After they finished breakfast, he went to get his phone for his obligatory dad call, when he saw that it had a shit ton of new massages and two missed calls.  
All of which came from Scott.

Scott -> Stiles [00:14]  
Dude, Allison came over. She wants to talk. She’s in tears and everything. What should I do?

Scott -> Stiles [00:24]  
I called Kira, she’s on her way. I don’t know what the etiquette for this kind of thing is anyway. Apparently, her dad was arrested.

Scott -> Stiles [00:29]  
Do you know anything about that? They were audited and even though her dad told her he was an arms dealer, he still had tons of unregistered weapons and manipulated ammunition. It’s a really big deal. Her aunt and grandfather are supposed to come help with the situation. I don’t know man.

Scott -> Stiles [00:38]  
Stiles. I think something’s really off with her family. Her mom just stopped by to bring her an overnight bag and dude, she has crazy eyes.

Scott -> Stiles [00:56]  
Stiles? Can we talk on the phone? I really need to know if you know something about this. Kira talked to Allison and she’s really freaked out, because Allison doesn’t get that what her dad did was wrong. She’s really mad at you of all people and somehow thinks this is personal?

Scott -> Stiles [01:12]  
She tried to get Lydia to pick her up, but Lydia didn’t want to. She straight up told her that what her dad did was creepy as hell, and if she can’t see that all of this had nothing to do with you, she doesn’t need to bother trying to hit her up, again. This is awkward as all hell.

Scott -> Stiles [01:34]  
Danny is here? Lydia told him to be there for me, what the fuck is going on? Do best friend and best friend of the boyfriend automatically get along, because Danny’s being really supportive and helpful(??) and I don’t know how to deal with that?

Scott -> Stiles [02:51]  
Thank god. He insulted me. I thought I was starting to lose my mind. I was so relieved I insulted him right back. The order has been reestablished and Allison’s aunt just picked her up. Seriously there’s something wrong with that family, I tell you. That woman gave me and Danny some serious fuck-me eyes. What the shit?

Stiles didn’t even need to think twice about his next course of action.  
His dad picked up on the second ring.

‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ Stiles immediately yelled into the phone, which of course alerted the two other werewolves and Jackson, who were all by his side immediately.   
Stiles put his dad on speaker.


	10. scary stuff all around

‘Stiles. I get that you’re upset, but—’

 

‘You realize they called for reinforcements? Kate and Gerard Argent are now in town and they will be gunning for you.’

 

‘I know that, son. But Kate left a trail of burned out houses and abused teens in her wake and Gerard left one of missing people and badly mangled bodies in his.

 

I know they are on watch lists and I’ve already alerted the higher ups of several agencies to the fact that I’m investigating the situation, if anything happens to me or my own, they’ll immediately go after them.

 

I did this as controlled as I could. I’m also sorry to say, that I canceled your flight back. I want you away from this for as long as possible.

 

I’ve also released that Parrish found something and is now in protective custody and fed false information about what he found through all the right channels. If they make a move to take Parrish out, we have them.

 

If they try to blackmail me or take me out, we have them. They are on the no-fly list and border patrol has their information, so they won’t be able to easily cross the country.’

His dad heaved a deep sigh.

 

‘Stiles I know this is hard for you to take in, because you like to be in control of the risks I take, but I’m the adult in this equation. It is my job to protect you.’

 

Stile breath came in short bursts and his eyes flashed between gold and honey brown.

‘Dad if something happens to you—’

 

‘Nothing will happen to me. I’ll take care of it.’  
  
‘Dad, just stay alive okay? Don’t take unnecessary risks. Don’t deliberately put yourself in danger. We’ll get them one way or another. Just try and stay safe. Please? For me?’  
  


‘Stiles, everything will be alright. I have this under control. Just stay where you are.’ His father repeated.

 

Jackson was holding his hand, the one that had gripped nervously at the table, while Laura was wrapped around Stiles back and tried to help him get his breathing under control and a horrifying thought hit him.

 

‘Did you know?’ He asked, as neutral as he could.  
  


Laura stared at him for a moment, before she shook her head. ‘I didn’t.’  
  


‘Me neither.’ Derek promised and their heartbeats stayed calm.

 

‘He’s putting himself at risk.’ Laura growled. Her own eyes flashing red.  
  


‘I know.’ Stiles whispered.  
  


‘The Argents are ruthless and irrational, even with the backing of the higher ups— I’ll try and talk to him.’ Laura promised, kissing the top his head as she gently pried his phone out of his fingers and called the Sheriff.

 

Stiles tried to listen in on the conversation, but he wasn’t able to. His senses were running away with him and before he could lose any more of his control than he already had, Derek pinned him to the couch and nuzzled his neck, growling soothingly into it. He still had a firm grip on Jackson, who tensed at the display of fangs so near to his boyfriend’s jugular.

 

A few moments later and the tenseness bled from Stiles form. He sighed deeply and then he was just left feeling sad.  
  


Sad and angry. Sad because he couldn’t do anything to help, angry because his dad thought it was necessary to go this far. To risk everything.  
  


He could have hidden from them. Hell, they even creeped his human friends out.

 

‘Your dad knows what he is doing. He is trying to protect everyone and he’s doing a damned good job of it.’ Jackson muttered. He had put two and two together, when the sheriff mentioned a trail of burned out houses and abused teenagers. Derek wasn’t exactly confident.

 

Stiles laughed wetly. ‘I just wish, I could be there to have his back.’  
  


‘I know.’ Derek answered. He took a moment to breath in deeply. ‘I honest to god hate that town and I’d fly out there in a heartbeat to help, even with Kate and her minions strewn all over town.’ He admitted; heartbeat steady as can be.

 

‘Thank you.’ Stiles murmured as Derek squeezed his shoulder and stepped back.

 

A few moments later, Laura came back with Stiles phone.  
  


‘Your dad agreed that we may sent him some supernatural back up and I already have some people in mind.’ She said smiling sweetly.

 

Derek and Laura spent the next hour calling old friends, new friends and acquaintances all around, while Stiles quickly brought Jackson up to speed and snuggled into him, seeking comfort. It was a weird feeling to actually receive that from Jackson of all people. But it worked. Jackson had always been physical so when he was basically carried over to the couch and wrapped up in an aggressive snuggle, Stiles didn’t complain. He just took a deep breath and started answering the many texts and calls of his friends.

 

 

Stiles -> Scott [12:03]

Ok, I’m going to tackle this more or less in order: I didn’t know anything about that and it’s weird that she would come to you with that. It’s kind of cool that Kira and Danny came over to help, though. I can’t say a lot about her family, other than that your instincts are great and please stay away from them. Dad thinks they are seriously dangerous, too and won’t let me come home until he has a better handle on anything. It would be great if you deleted the message after reading. Sorry I wasn’t able to help. Take care.

 

 

Stiles -> Danny [12:12]

Hey Danny,

Hope you’re doing ok. Scott told me what happened the other night. Thank you for helping out. : ) Dad won’t let me come back home, he thinks it’s too dangerous with everything going on, which reminds me, please try and keep your head down where Kate and Gerard are concerned.   
Also, just so you know Jackson is not missing or anything he is with me in NY. We will tell his parents what’s going on later.

 

Danny answered immediately.

 

Danny -> Stiles [12:14]

It’s good that you’re staying over there, because it’s really weird here. The ancient Argent tried to flirt with me twice already, but she quickly changed her mind, when I told her that I knew the state attorney and that I wasn’t interested. Allison’s granddad is now somehow the school principle, and no one knows what happened to the old one, who I’m still trying to track, btw and just so you know, I will address you flying my best friend out to NY later.

 

Stiles -> Danny [12:16]

Well, the news that you threatened Kate Argent after she tried to get it on with you, aren’t great. I’m going to be honest there. But I get it, your self-preservation instincts just kicked in in the face of utter horror. Also, Jackson says hi.

 

Danny -> Stiles [12:17]

Tell him to call me back. Also, just so you know I’ve weeded through all of Jackson’s most recent texts when I thought he was missing, and I am now unable to ever hold eye contact with you again.

 

Stiles -> Danny [12:19]

Seems excessive

 

Danny -> Stiles [12:22]

It’s not. Also, before I forget, I might tell Jackson’s dad about us being friends, just because of this whole Argent thing. I think they might have asked me because we’ve started hanging out before you pissed off. They’ve been approaching others, too.

 

Stiles -> Danny [12:24]

Yeah, no worries, definitely tell him. I will tell mine about this, too. We’ll also call Jackson’s parents in a few minutes. Just to be safe.

 

 

Scott -> Stiles [12:36]

!!! They are asking about you. Talked to Danny earlier and he affirmed it. Will go to your dad now. This is so wide out there on the spectrum of not okay. Like dude, you don’t even know.

 

Stiles stared at the message in dumb wonder. Maybe getting away with as much as those two had, did something to you. Because they might as well have signed a confession.  
  
Searching for, and actively interrogating minors in regard to the son of the Sheriff, who is leading an investigation against them, was quite possibly the dumbest thing one could do.

 

Jackson sat up next to him and reached for his own phone. ‘Fucking hell. Let’s get this over with.’  
  
He dialed, and his dad immediately answered.  
  
‘Whittemore.’ Said the cold, deep voice of Jackson’s father.  
  
‘Hey.’ Jackson answered.  
  
‘Jackson?’ He sounded actually worried.  
  
‘Listen I need to tell you something.’  
  
‘Did something happen? Is it drugs?’ His father immediately asked.  
  
‘No it’s not drugs. I’m gay.’  
  
There was silence and then. ‘Okay. That’s not… That’s not a big deal.’ Then a bit stilted, ‘It’s good that you figured that out.’  
  
‘My boyfriend is Stiles Stilinski.’  
  
‘The sheriff’s kid, right?’ His father asked. ‘I know of him. He had a few altercations. Punched those guys that made that video of the girl having a seizure, right?’  
  
‘Yeah, that’s him.’ Jackson answered and let a deep breath out, while Stiles stared in disbelief at the phone.  
  
‘He seemed like a good kid.’ Jackson’s father said.  
  
‘He is.’ Jackson answered simply. ‘That’s why I went out to visit him when I was having a bad night this weekend.’ He said and his dad immediately sighed.   
  
Having an understanding of what a bad night might be for Jackson, would be helpful, now.  
  
‘How are you?’ He asked.  
  
‘A lot better.’  
  
‘That’s…’ His dad breathed in deeply. ‘That’s really great. Your mom told me you were at Danny’s, though.’  
  
‘Yeah, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Stiles wasn’t in Beacon Hills, when I went to go see him. He’s currently visiting friends in New York.’  
  
‘What?’ His father asked.  
  


‘I was under a lot of pressure with my coming out stuff and I just lost it. I went to go see him.’  
  
‘Jackson.’ His father groaned.  
  
‘But that’s not why I called you.’  
  
‘Oh great. There’s more.’ His father replied dryly over the phone.  
  
‘Yeah, so the Sheriff just launched this huge investigation right?...’  
  
While Jackson explained everything to his dad about the case and how the Argents had somehow replaced their principle and were now asking around after Stiles and actually interrogating and coming on to minors, his dad’s whole demeaner changed.  
  
‘Are you somewhere safe right now?’ He asked.  
  
‘Yes, we’re with Stiles friends, and before you ask, one of them is in law school and the other one is jobbing as a personal trainer, there are no drugs, little to no alcohol and definitely no orgies.’  
  
His father groaned. ‘This is me, putting my trust in you ok?’ He asked seriously.  
  
‘I know dad.’  
  
‘Okay. I’ll meet up with Sheriff Stilinski later, but I feel like you are a lot safer where you are now, and it would be great if you could stay there until all of this blows over. However, in case it doesn’t work out or something happens that makes you uncomfortable, I’ll transfer money over to your account to use for hotel fees or food or whatever you need. Just stay safe and for Christ’s sake call your mom.’  
  
Jackson snorted. ‘I will. Thank you, for accepting this so easily.’   
  
After he hung up, Stiles groaned as he reached for his phone. His dad picked up immediately, which was just his luck. This could have been a stellar voicemail.  
  
‘Daddio.’  
  
‘Oh no.’  
  
‘Remember how we had that whole talk about me telling you when something big happens?’  
  
‘Jesus Stiles, don’t fuck around now.’  
  
‘I have a boyfriend.’  
  
‘And?’ His dad said immediately.  
  
‘It’s Jackson Whittemore.’  
  
His father groaned and honest to god whined, when he said. ‘His dad is a pain in the ass.’  
  
‘Jackson’s really supportive of all of this.’  
  
‘Wait, he knows?’  
  
‘Yes, his dad doesn’t though.’  
  
‘Alright and he’s still with you…’  
  
‘Yeah, it’s kind of serious.’  
  
‘Okay. Okay. I’m happy for you kid—’  
  
‘Great your happiness is key, because he actually flew out to New York with me and his father just found out about it. Jackson had to tell him where he was, because the Argents are currently interrogating minors about me and my close friends.’  
  
His dad’s heartbeat went through the roof at that, but Stiles soldiered on.  ‘So, his dad decided he’d be safer in New York with me and also that you two should talk, because of the Argents and all that.’  
  
His dad groaned miserably. ‘Why thank you for letting me know all of this in advance, Stiles. I feel so prepared for this meeting with his father now.’  
  
‘Sure. So, we’re good?’ He asked.  
  
‘Of course we’re fucking good. Your alpha just guilt tripped me into allowing some kind of supernatural death crusaders into town, my son is on a sex vacation with his boyfriend, I didn’t know existed and I have to spent the afternoon talking to Whittemore but other than that I’M GREAT.’  
  
‘That’s a huge relieve. So, talk to you later. Love you. Bye.’  
  
There was another huge groan from the other side of the phone before his dad hung up.  
  
  
‘That could have gone worse.’ Stiles assured a wide-eyed Jackson.  
  
‘I don’t get how you and your dad communicate.’ Jackson finally admitted.  
  
‘With infinite understanding and love, Jackson. That either happens when you see each other at your lowest point or when you’re just naturally inclined to having really great relationships.’  
  


‘Your mom’s death?’ Jackson asked carefully.  
  
‘Yeah that seems about right.’ Stiles murmured. Feeling cold from the memory alone.  
  
Jackson nudged him with his shoulder, before he let his neck fall against the back of the coach, unknowingly baring his throat to him.   
  
Stiles hummed, as he slowly pushed his face into the crook of his boyfriend’s neck. Just breathing him in.  
  
Few things had ever felt so right and comforting and wasn’t that fucking ridiculous?  
  
‘Why does this feel so good?’ Jackson murmured into Stiles’ hair.  
  
‘No idea.’ Stiles hummed.  
  
‘Can I do it to you?’ Jackson asked eyeing him weirdly.  
  
Stiles nodded. ‘Course you can.’ He murmured as he tipped his head back. Jackson stared for a moment before he pressed little kisses along the expanse of Stiles’ throat.  
He slowly pushed Stiles back on the couch and sat in his lap before he continued to lick, suck and bite at Stiles’ bared neck and that was how Laura found them.  
  
Eyebrows pulled up in a way that meant they were doing something that raised some wolfy red flags. Stiles already groaned exasperated, while Jackson just pulled up an eyebrow in return.  
  
‘You really meant it, when you said there was no set dominant or submissive party in this, huh?’ Laura asked, flabbergasted.  
  


Stiles was suddenly embarrassed by Jackson’s lack of modesty and the fact that the dude still sat square on top of him. So, he helpfully shoved Jackson out of his lap, before he turned towards Laura.   
  
‘Of course, we meant that.’ Stiles answered confused, while dodging Jackson who tried to slap the back of his head in retaliation.  
  
Jackson mustered the two of them, after he finally settled down next to Stiles. ‘Is that weird for wolves?’  
  
Laura shrugged. ‘I never met a wolf who willingly bared their throat to a human, before. It’s a rank thing.’ She continued.  
  
Stiles snorted. ‘I guess I’ve been human for too long to feel that way.’  
  
‘Or you’re recognizing Jackson as your equal.’ Laura said, eyes gleaming as if that was a huge revelation.  
  
‘Yes.’ Stiles nodded and looked at Jackson who seemed as confused as he was, which could be recognized easily, because he was wearing his resting bitch face.  
  
‘I see Jackson as my equal in this relationship.’ He said again, slower, as if to feel out if his wolf or any other instinct reeled against that, which it didn’t.  
  
‘Huh.’ Laura said again stumped.  
  
‘Laura?’

  
‘Wolves don’t feel that way, about their partners.’

  
‘What?’ Stiles asked shocked.  
  
‘There’s a very clear rank-based system in a pack, so everyone knows where they stand with each other. Derek’s my enforcer, he’ll always be my right-hand man and the person who has the most authority over our treaties, besides me.   
He’s the one who generally gets the last word on who we take on, where we are located, who’s allowed on our property, he basically handles everything that outwardly concerns the pack. You are my second in command, you are the one that would delegate and handle the inner social workings of the pack, like other betas. It would be your job to look out for them in my absence.’  
  
She pause thoughtfully, before she continued. ‘Of course, none of that matters right now, because we don’t have any betas that need delegating. But since you’re its official protector, you are the one who is most in tune with what each pack member needs. I’m obviously the exception to both of those set ranks, since I’m your alpha. However, the introduction of Jackson into the pack as a human member, opened up the possibility for you to pull rank, you know? Have authority over him, which is a concept made wolves are generally obsessed with. So, this whole interaction just now, doesn’t make any sense to me. It goes against everything I’ve ever learned. ’  
  
‘Um. I’ve known Jackson since forever?’  
  
‘Even siblings defer to ranks. I’ve known Derek all my life and I can count on one hand how many times I’ve borne my throat to him.’  
  
‘So, will this harm the pack?’ Stiles asked confused.  
  
‘No. I’ve seen you with newly made wolves. I know you can exert authority over others. I’m not questioning your competence as a second right now. I’m just confused as to what to do with Jackson.’  
  
She thought about it for a second. ‘As long as he stays human, this won’t be a problem.’ She finally elaborated.  
  
‘Ok.’ Stiles nodded, while Jackson simultaneously said. ‘So, it will never be a problem.’

 

Laura grinned. ‘That’s good. If other packs are interacting with us, while you’re here, we’ll just introduce you as the human mate. That will be as close to equal to Stiles as you can get.’  
  
Jackson looked disgruntled. ‘That sounds like a fancy word for fucktoy.’  
  
Stiles groaned. ‘Holy shit, Jackson. It means we say we’re werewolf married.’  
  
Jackson pulled up an eyebrow at that, before he shrugged. ‘Sure, if it helps.’

  
‘It does.’ Laura nodded.  
  
‘So, how did it go with your allies?’ Stiles asked, already exhausted with the topic and slightly irritated by werewolf culture because what the fuck? Pulling rank in a relationship was so far out of the realm of not okay, it wasn’t even in the same dimension anymore. At least, where he was concerned.  
  
Laura smiled a smile that was all teeth. Her eyes glinted in the dim light of the afternoon sun and she looked positively wolfish.  
  
‘It went very well.’   
  
  


In fact, it went better than anyone could have guessed. The news spread like a wild fire, and before you knew it, Stiles heard people whispering about it in the streets of the underground. The whispers were about a Sheriff, the father of a bitten wolf, who had trapped the Argents in Beacon Hills and wanted to take them out for their crimes against the supernatural.   
  
The Sheriff was backed by the Hales and all their allies, if something happened to him, the creature responsible was as good as dead.

It was also a golden opportunity for any and everyone who wanted to make nice with the Hales or their more powerful allies, to prove themselves capable. Protect the Sheriff. Kill the Argents.

 

A wet dream come true for many supernatural creatures. There weren’t many opportunities to kill a hunter, legally get away with it and put themselves in the good graces of six or seven of the old packs. This was for one of their own and hell if they didn’t take that opportunity.  
  
A part of Stiles was reluctant to celebrate the huge support. The people that flocked towards Beacon Hills were looking for a fight, to prove themselves and he’d delegated them all towards his dad. Into a supernatural war zone. That just didn’t sit well with him.  
  
However, two days had passed, and the Sheriff was still in the middle of his investigation. He called Stiles every morning before work and every night before he went to sleep. Scott was also providing running commentary through the whole thing. Jackson’s father was a lot more conservative in showing his love. He texted Jackson by the end of day two, asking if he needed more money, which he didn’t.  
At least Danny and Jackson’s mom were more communicative.  
  
Laura seemed on edge since day one. She admitted that it was because of the Sheriff. She wanted to go back there, but she wanted to do it alone.   
Of course, Derek had shot her down immediately. In the end the decision was made that they’d either all go, which included Jackson, or none at all.   
  
Jackson fit right in with them, in a way that was almost subtle. He hung back and talked with Laura, when Derek and Stiles went on errands and he accompanied Derek to work at the local gym. He helped out when they cooked or cleaned together and seemed to get used to the fact that he often got hugged and cuddled.  
  
It wasn’t as weird as Stiles had expected. To share this part of his life with Jackson, which was maybe the weirdest realization of the whole weekend.

**Author's Note:**

> Please Review! Knowing you took the time to tell me what you think about this, means a lot to me and is insanely motivating! :D


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